The Blood Oath
by darkestsparks
Summary: Caroline Forbes goes to the annual Lockwood banquet like she would any other year; smiling until her cheeks start to hurt and laughing at the jokes Mr. Lockwood has used for the past four years. But everything changes when Klaus Mikaelson, a revenge-driven man, bursts in and takes Caroline hostage. What started as a sick game soon turns into something neither of them expected...
1. Sweet Dreams

**Welcome to my first fanfic! :)**

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_Day 1_

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_Rolling golden hills presented themselves in front of her as she stood on the hilltop in her white sundress; her golden hair blowing in every direction. She placed herself down in the soft blazing grass, only to feel something fall on her face. She swiped a hand across her cheek, only to find it covered in blood. _

_Suddenly, a roaring mass of red waves came pouring from the hills, rushing straight towards her. She stood up in a panic, desperate to get away from the danger, but it was too late._

_She was drowning in the thick waves of blood. She reached for the surface, swimming towards the dim light, trying to breathe to no prevail. She screamed for help, but no one could hear her._

Caroline Forbes woke up screaming. She collected herself and came to her senses, realizing that it had only been a dream: one that had been consuming her sleepless nights for the past month.

Each time, the dream was a bit different. But in the end, she would always wake up in her bed, sweating and nervous.

Caroline tied her hair up in a messy bun, then put on a pair of sweatpants and a light fleece.

After exiting her apartment, she walked outside to start her morning run. She ran around the block once, which usually got rid of her early morning jitters. When it didn't do the trick, she decided to take a run in the park.

She hadn't realized it was still so early in the day. The sun was just rising, casting an orange glow over the trees. Caroline closed her eyes and let the music blasting in her ears overwhelm her and take control.

All of a sudden, a noise to her left startled her. It made her think of the Mikaelsons.

Caroline knew of their leader, Klaus. He was said to be brutal and constantly angry. He, his three siblings, and a few loyal followers made up their 'family'. Apparently, they lived in a rustic mansion somewhere in the small town Caroline called home: Mystic Falls.

Her boyfriend, Tyler, made up part of the opposing family, if that's what you could call it: The Wolves. A few close friends made up that group: Damon, Tyler's right wing man; Stefan, Damon's brother; herself; Elena, and Matt.

The only reason Caroline and Elena were allowed in the group were because their boyfriends were members. Elena was somewhat of a wimp in Caroline's opinion. According to the other members, it was a "man's job". Bull _shit_.

As Caroline felt hands on her shoulders, she whipped around and kicked her attacker in the groin.

But as she saw who lay on a heap in the ground, she gasped and ran to their aid.

"Tyler! I'm sorry!"

He only groaned in reply.

He finally sat up, looking up at her with those mischievous brown eyes. His hair was still messy from his (no doubt) good night's sleep—god, she wish he would actually care to clean up once in a while.

After she helped him up, she swatted him on the shoulder and scolded him like a mother to her child. "What the hell was that for?" she asked him, slightly annoyed.

Tyler could be so childish sometimes.

He shrugged and pursed his lips. "C'mon, Care, are you actually pissed? You're being ridiculous."

Little did he know, this was no time to scare her.

Tyler lived nearby, so it made sense that they would run into each other. But still, she wished he wouldn't surprise her like that.

She rolled her eyes, sighed, and walked away. "I'll see you tonight," she called out over her shoulder.

...

Caroline spent hours getting ready for that night: it was the annual banquet after all. She had to look her best. Tyler's family, the Lockwoods, held a feast each year at their mansion. The invite was extended to only the most powerful families in the region, Caroline excluded.

She wasn't poor—she could provide for herself, but compared the Lockwoods? The Gilberts? The Salvatore brothers? Even the Donovans controlled the police force. The Forbes' had nothing.

Her mother was in an asylum for the insane and her father had recently died. Without Tyler and the Wolves, Caroline was all alone in the world.

Sometimes, she didn't even know if Tyler loved her. He constantly spent time with that Hayley girl, who apparently was his connection to the drug lords. At least that's what he told her.

It wasn't that she didn't love Tyler. But was she in love with him? Did she trust him? Lately that was all she had been asking herself.

Caroline shook herself out of her thoughts and knocked on the front door to the Lockwood house. She tried to look as best she could: she wore a long, flowing white dress that trailed behind her on the floor and held a small handbag.

Mrs. Lockwood opened the door, a smug expression lingering on her face for far longer than necessary.

"Looks like my son has a history of dating trash," she said distastefully, glancing at Caroline's dress with disdain.

As Caroline walked inside, Mrs. Lockwood whispered distastefully into her ear, "Don't think you'll be wearing that dress down the aisle with my son waiting on the other side, dear."

Caroline held the tears in: she could handle this. She was used to being treated like a speck of dust, especially around the Lockwoods. She stepped inside and took in her surroundings.

A gorgeous chandelier hung from the ceiling, and a single red rose sat in a vase as the centerpiece for the long(er than necessary) table.

Elena stood in one corner, her arm linked through Damon's. When he saw Caroline, his blue eyes narrowed and he whispered something in Elena's ear. Caroline noticed that Elena's raven locks had been fashioned into loose curls, unlike her usual straight hair. Elena looked over as well, greeting Caroline with a cool smile before disappearing into a hallway.

Matt and Stefan stood by the bar, both sipping on something that smelled suspiciously like bourbon. She started to walk over to them, hoping that someone there would want her around.

But before she could, a strong arm grabbed hers.

Tyler.

"Caroline, dinner's about to start."

He whisked her away, but not before she flashed a quick smile at Stefan. He returned it, and opened his mouth to say something, but she didn't catch what it was.

Caroline sat next to Tyler at the table, much to Mrs. Lockwood's disapproval. She would cast them angry glances every minute or two—she didn't even try to be subtle about it.

Stefan sat next to Damon and Elena, pained expressions constantly crossing his already brooding face. Damon had stolen the love of his life, after all.

Caroline noticed that that girl—Hayley—was there as well. She kept on shooting sly glances at Tyler, who, in turn, smiled back at her.

She wanted nothing more than to leave.

Suddenly, a sharp chime sounded throughout the room.

Mr. Lockwood stood up out of his chair, dusting off his suit jacket.

"We're all gathered here today in celebration, like we do every year. But this year is special. This year, our new addition to the team, Ms. Hayley Marshall, has greatly contributed to our success. To Hayley," he concluded, raising a glass in toast.

Everyone in the room raised a glass in turn, all murmuring, 'Hayley'.

Hayley stood up out of her seat, almost like she actually was important. Everyone applauded, much to Caroline's irritation.

Thus, dinner was served.

...

Klaus peered through Lockwoods' picture window at the scene unrolling in front of him. Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood sat at the two heads of the table, while their son—Taylor, was it?—sat just to the side of his father.

But who was that next to him? He hadn't seen her before. He would have remembered. She wasn't one of the Big Families' daughters... how could his spies have missed this? He had a file on possibly every single person the Wolves had ever _breathed _on, but not her.

He swore he would make Elijah pay for that.

Even when his brother would accuse him of not knowing her face, he would know it was a lie. He would never forget such a beautiful girl.

_Keep yourself on task,_ he reminded himself. _You don't need any distractions tonight. Everything has to be perfect. _

He crept along the sides of the house, occasionally checking in with Rebekah. Finally, as the clock struck twelve, he knew it was time to act. It was now or never.

"Bekah," he whispered into his mic, careful to be quiet, "It's go time. Tell Elijah and Kol to get in and get out. I want to be the one to finish the job."

"Remember, Nik: you only get one chance," she replied. There was an unmistakable excitement lingering in her voice.

Klaus smirked; of course he knew that. It wasn't as if he had been waiting for this moment his entire life.

_Now or never. _

...

Caroline sat through dinner, ignoring Mrs. Lockwood's glares and Stefan's pitiful stares. Even though he was a Salvatore, he knew what it was like to be considered less than useful under the Lockwood family's eye.

Years ago, when he and his brother had first been recruited, Damon had excelled at everything, constantly outshining Stefan.

One fateful day, during a mission, Stefan broke both his legs and tore his Achilles tendon. After months of training and rehabilitation, he wasn't as close to being as good as he had been. It had not only ruined his reputation, but it broke his heart and sent him into a spiraling depression.

Damon was ruthless and full of potential: perfect for the Wolves. The minute Stefan reached his breaking point, Damon had snatched Elena out from under his nose and made him hers. It wasn't about love with him... it was about possession. At least that was how Caroline viewed him.

Was Tyler the same way with her? The question often presented itself to her, but she would brush it away. Of course Tyler loved her. He had no gain from being with her, except...

Her father. How could she have not seen it before?

Her father had been a master of torture, and his wrongdoings didn't stop at work. Caroline remembered the constant beatings, the yelling, the screaming...

Had her father been the only real reason Tyler had even come in contact with her?

It all made sense. Now that her father was dead, he had no use for her.

She felt sick to her stomach. She needed air. She needed to breathe. She needed to get away from these people.

All of a sudden, she leapt out of her chair and ran towards the bathroom. Tyler's voice called out to her, but he didn't follow her. Why would he? He didn't really care anyways.

Or was she a paranoid girlfriend? Was she acting crazy, just like her mother?

_That's where she left to, right daddy? Mom didn't leave to go 'find herself'. I was there the day they hauled her away. I stood there at my window, watching as she kicked and screamed. You stood there and did nothing and then came back inside and told me she went to the supermarket. _

Caroline stared herself down in the mirror, tears now streaming down her cheeks and staining her perfect dress.

So much for a perfect night.

By the time she had collected herself, Caroline knew something wasn't right. As she walked out of the bathroom, it was completely quiet. Mr. Lockwood's booming voice wasn't telling some childhood story.

There was no laughter and no clinking of glasses or reminiscing good times.

Caroline walked into the living room to a terrible sight.

...

Klaus stood at the center of the bloody room, holding some girl's heart in his hand. Her name had been Hayley, hadn't it?

Mr. Lockwood's head sat on the floor to his left, while Mrs. Lockwood's bloodied corpse lay in pieces on the table.

Sweet, sweet revenge. That was what they got for murdering his only family.

Of course, Taylor (or whatever his name was) and the rest had gotten away, but it didn't matter. He had killed his main targets.

Besides, the Hayley girl had been a liability. He couldn't have one of his spies fraternizing with the enemy. And Taylor and her had _fraternized_. The two had been together every night for months, and the Lockwoods hadn't suspected a single thing.

Before the Wolves had time to regroup, he would strike. They wouldn't even know what had hit them.

But of course, his perfect scheme didn't go as perfectly planned as he had wanted it to.

Right after the massacre of the Lockwoods and Ms. Marshall, the beautiful blond he had seen earlier strode into the room.

Nothing could describe the terror evident on her face the moment she laid eyes on the scene before her.

The girl let out a choked scream before looking at him.

Disgust, horror, and terror all laced into one expression. Priceless. Little did she know, a bigger surprise was waiting for her.

She stood stone-still near the center of the room. Klaus watched as her eyes slowly drifted down to the heart in his hand.

The girl let out another strangled sound before backing up against the wall to steady herself. She didn't run. He didn't know whether it was because of fear or because she had a plan in mind.

"W-w-where are the others?" she choked out, her voice barely a whisper. Her eyes never left the floor. Perhaps she was strong, but she certainly didn't show it now.

"I killed them,"he lied.

_After living in Mystic Falls, the girl has never seen a dead body? _Klaus scoffed. _Pitiful. _

...

As soon as the sound left his mouth, Caroline's mind drifted to the worst thoughts possible.

_Tyler, and Stefan, and MattandDamonandElena... _

Her eyes met his as she asked, petrified, "Are you going to kill me?"

Why wasn't she running? She asked herself. It was as if her legs were made of lead.

The man, who she had realized was Klaus Mikaelson, pursed his lips pensively. "Perhaps one day," he told her. "But for now, I have other uses for you." Casting a short look behind her, he said, "Isn't that right, Elijah?"

Caroline whipped around, her face permanently frozen in a deer-in-the-headlights-look. There stood a young man, perhaps older than Klaus, perhaps younger. _Elijah. The silent killer. _He had dark hair and calm brown eyes; a surprising contrast compared to his brother.

He wore a suit—his trademark outfit. A cool smile presented itself to her. His voice chilled her bones.

"Of course, Niklaus."

And in a split second, he had raced forward and plunged a syringe into the side of her neck. Caroline crumpled to the floor before being drowned in an unwelcome darkness.

* * *

**What do you guys think of Caroline? of Klaus? of Tyler and his family? **

**Does the dream mean something...?**

**I hope you guys like it :)**

**Please review, review, review! It makes me update faster (;**


	2. The Other Brother

**New update! Bon apetit!**

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_Day 7_

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"This was not one of your smartest decisions, Niklaus."

_Oh, doubtful Elijah, just wait and see,_ thought Klaus, a small smirk on his face.

Klaus stood in the middle of his living room, sipping on a cold glass of vodka. He gulped down the remnants of it and grimaced as the drink burned his throat. He chuckled dryly and sighed.

"And what makes you say that?" was his reply.

Still holding the same still expression, Elijah spoke. "She's not leverage; she's a liability."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "She's none of those things. Notice that we've kept her here a week without asking for a ransom. The only purpose this girl serves is bait. When her friends come for her—and they will—I will kill every single one of them."

"And until then?"

Klaus laughed. Elijah should have known Klaus had a plan for everything.

Elijah only sighed in disappointment and left the room.

...

How long had she been there? Days? Months?

Time passed slowly down in her tiny jail cell, yet... did she have any perception of time? What seemed like an hour could be a minute.

She was cold, tired, and hungry.

Her perfect white dressed was stained with blood and grime.

Her face was tearstained; her eyes red and puffy; all from crying over her friends. They were all DEAD. _He _had killed them.

She grasped her stomach as it begged for more food.

_I'm sure they'll come down with bread and water soon, _she told herself, trying to draw out any remaining hope she had left in her. _Or who knows? Maybe today will be the day that they kill me. _

There must've been some reason they kept her in this dark, dank place. At night she swore she could hear eerie whispers coming from down the hall. Who else were they keeping there? Who else was suffering? Or was she merely going insane? Was that all apart of the plan?

...

Klaus threw yet another girl to the ground, wiping a few drops of blood off of his mouth.

_Surprise, prisoner, I'm a vampire!_

The Mikaelsons were the original vampires, thus the most powerful.

A nervous voice came from behind him.

"Mr. Mikaelson, she wouldn't... well, she..."

_Ugh. _Another one of his annoying servants. Not even bothering to turn around, Klaus said through gritted teeth, "Well, spit it out, boy." He had nearly lost his patience in having the entirety of the incompetent newly born vampires lingering around his house.

"The girl. She was screaming and shouting for us to let her out, and she threatened to kill herself if she wasn't set free, and..."

The young boy tripped over his words and he gulped at the end, wondering if the next breath he drew would be the last.

Klaus turned around in his chair and practically levitated out of his chair when he saw who was with the boy.

None other than that manipulative blond: Cora, was it? He didn't know and he didn't care. He had never been good with names.

She had the nerve to stand in front of him when she was the one who had ruined his plan in the first place? _She _had the nerve to blackmail him?

Not taking his eyes off of hers, Klaus asked the boy, "And how, exactly, did she plan to kill herself?"

The boy's voice trembled and Klaus almost felt bad for the young lad. _Almost. _

"I don't know how she did it, sir, but she stole a knife off of one of the guards and held it to her throat, saying if we didn't feed her soon she would slice her head clean off. She even started to, and that was when me and Luca stepped in."

Klaus hadn't noticed it before, but yes, now he could see it. A cut, about a quarter inch deep, right along the side of her neck.

What a nuisance she was becoming.

He stared daggers at the girl and said, "Not the smartest thing to do in a house full of vampires, love."

...

The thing was, Caroline hadn't meant to hurt herself. She had threatened to, but she wasn't going to actually do it. She was a coward.

Caroline was scared out of her mind. There was no way in hell that this lunatic was telling the truth. Her eyes kept gravitating towards the girl lying dead on the ground. She didn't know if she could take much longer. And if he was a... vampire... she was doomed. If she let her true emotions show they would kill her without blinking an eye. Maybe if she kept up the confident act, then they would have uses for her.

Klaus shrugged, taking a step closer to her.

She fought the urge to flee right then, but she stood her ground, knowing it was her only hope.

She trembled just the slightest bit when he looked her in the eye.

"Alright," he told her, just like that, so casually. "Jacque, prepare her for feeding."

_Did that mean that I was finally going to eat? Had my plan actually worked? _Caroline thought, a smug smile appearing on her face.

The young boy next to her, who she assumed was 'Jacque', struggled to find words. "But, you can't truly be... Elijah told you that we need her alive if this is going to work, Mr. Mikaelson."

All the color drained from Caroline's face.

'_Need her alive'? Which meant... oh, my god. Klaus is going to suck my freaking blood! It's like a Dracula movie, except real, and 1000 times scarier. He's going to kill me._

"NO!" She shouted, releasing her arm from Jacque's grip.

Klaus took another step forward, almost daring Caroline to say another word.

"What was that?" His voice was low and threatening.

"No." she repeated, not standing down. "You _cannot_ kill me. Not after _all _the shit I've been through. This is definitely_ not _how it's going to end."

Caroline even surprised herself. She was never strong or confident. She always hoped to be like that one day, but today wasn't the day.

"Very well then. I'll give you another choice."

Caroline was (to say the least) surprised by his answer.

In lightning speed, he raced forward, biting his wrist, and fed it to the struggling girl.

"You never said you didn't want to become a vampire," he whispered into her ear.

Just as his hands were about to snap her neck, a voice called out behind him and made him freeze.

"Don't do this, Niklaus."

Pesky little Elijah, always butting his nose into things that weren't his business.

Klaus whipped around to face him, rage evident on his face. "You don't run the show here. I do. _I _am king."

Elijah could see the terror on Caroline's face as her eyes begged him to not let his brother do this.

He took a wary step forward, holding out one hand. "The minute the Wolves hear she's a vampire, if they'll even believe it, they'll want nothing to do with her. That means you don't get your revenge. If you do this now, everything we've strived towards will be ruined."

What Elijah had said struck an odd chord with Caroline. The_ Wolves? But they were all dead. They couldn't come and save her even if they wanted to. Were there others?_

Klaus pondered this. But he would need more convincing than that. He strode up to his brother, throwing Caroline to the ground with brute force, grabbed Elijah by the arm, and took him into a private room where no one could hear their conversation.

...

As soon as the two left, Caroline knocked Jacque to the ground, feeling just a bit of regret as she did. He hadn't done anything to her, but sometimes things like that just had to be done.

She took the opportunity to run out the backdoor, hoping the Mikaelson brothers wouldn't hear her. She ran as fast as she could before finally reaching the forest.

It was already dark out—they had an advantage, if they were truly... she shuddered at the thought... vampires. But she knew these woods like the back of her hand.

She nimbly leapt over Porter's Creek, where she used to spend hours playing with Elena as a young girl.

She continued running even though it felt as if she couldn't breathe any longer. Her throat burned and she was gasping for air. Yet she still plowed on through the forest, tiny thorns and branches scratching her face.

Caroline felt herself falling. An immense pain shot through her leg. As she lay on the ground, she looked down to see that a tree branch had sliced open her thigh.

It hurt like hell, and now she knew there was no hope for her.

"Shit," she mumbled under her breath.

...

After walking into the room, Elijah and Klaus had a heated argument.

"What is it about this girl, brother? You won't let me feed on her, and you won't let me turn her, either. Why won't you let me hurt her?"

Klaus' voice was even, but Elijah knew that his brother was furious.

Attempting to keep the situation calm, Elijah spoke slowly and surely.

"Because you're doing this out of anger and spite. You're not thinking clearly, Niklaus."

Before his brother could answer, Elijah continued.

"If you feed on her, she'll be dead in a week and the Wolves won't have a reason—if they did in the first place—to come here. If you turn her, they will have more reason to kill you. I say we stick to the plan and torture her for information."

As Klaus thought about Elijah's words, a banging sound hit his ears.

The two ran out of the room and back into the dining room to find an unconscious Jacque and no sign of Caroline.

The sound they had heard was the banging of the backdoor.

Both of Klaus' fists balled up in anger.

"We have to go after her," he said angrily. "She can't get away this easily."

...

Caroline had managed to crawl a few feet from where she had fallen, but the pain in her leg was unbearable and she was starting to feel dizzy from how much blood she had lost.

She crawled to a near tree and tried to hoist herself up to a standing position, using the tree as a brace.

A voice dripping in honey called out to her. "Do you need help?"

She started to say: 'Thank god you—' but when she turned around, she realized something wasn't right.

Even under the light of the moon, there was the same strange glint in his eyes that both Klaus and Elijah had. The same hunger and drive that was evident in the brothers. And he had found her in the middle of nowhere, just by chance? She wasn't buying it.

The man's lips curled into an evil smile.

"Nice night for a walk, isn't it?"

He glanced at both the nick in her neck and her leg, which was oozing blood onto the forest floor.

She backed up against the tree, trying to find a way out of this. What had she been thinking? Running into vampire-infested woods in a killer-filled town? Her breath was rapid and she couldn't control her heartbeat as she waited for the end.

...

As Elijah and Klaus scoured the woods for any signs of Caroline, Klaus stopped suddenly. He had heard something. It was faint, but near.

Caroline's voice. And Kol's?

He signaled to Elijah to follow him and the two raced towards the sound.

As they arrived, they watched their youngest brother lunge at Caroline—who was bleeding profusely.

Klaus felt a strange urge to protect the girl. She was the only way he could ever get revenge, after all.

...

As the man lunged at her, Caroline grabbed a branch from the ground—a panicked decision—and thrust it into his stomach.

He growled in pain as he felt it plunge through his gut.

He was done playing games.

The playful expression faded from his face.

Black veins slithered around his eyes and his irises glowed red.

He ripped the branch out of his torso, throwing it to the ground.

The man lunged forward again, and Caroline screamed, struggling under his grasp.

This time, the man hungrily bit into her neck, but he was quickly thrown off.

He landed easily ten feet away from Caroline.

"Don't touch her, Kol," Klaus growled, standing in front of the both of them.

Caroline stood there in fear, watching the scene in front of her unroll.

_Kol. Wasn't that his—_

"Brother."

Kol stood up from the leaf-covered ground, brushing stray dirt off of himself as he went. His eyes were murderous.

"Klaus."

The two stared each other down for a few long seconds before Kol finally held his hands up in the air in defeat—or frustration, Klaus couldn't tell.

"Fine, brother. I give up. Why's she so special anyways?" He paused and glanced over where Caroline was thought to be standing. He let out a snort. "Well, she can't be that special if she's laying half-dead on the ground. Just another rotting corpse, I guess."

Klaus turned his attention to Caroline, who, in fact, had collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

_She had survived this long, despite her inability to shut up and her stupid life choices—there must be a reason that she was still alive,_ Klaus thought to himself.

He picked her up gently, admiring her glossy blond hair and flawless skin- no. He shook himself out of the daydream. He couldn't let himself be weak around this silly girl. He couldn't let her be a distraction, no matter what.

Caroline's head bobbed lightly as it hung limply from Klaus' arms.

...

Klaus stood patiently outside Caroline's new bedroom: it had a view of the forest from the window, which he thought she would enjoy. Not that she cared what she did or did not enjoy.

As Lucinda passed by him, he grabbed her by the shoulder and asked, "Is she awake?"

The nurse shook her head and shrugged. "Last time I checked, she wasn't."

"Well, then, go and check now," he hissed, his voice laced with venom.

She nodded and took off in a hurry in the direction of Caroline's bedroom.

...

Caroline awoke with a start.

Where was she?

Was she back home? Had this all been a terrible nightmare?

No. This wasn't her room. The walls were a faded yellow, with an intricate design that reminded her of blue skies on the ceiling. The floor was the light Birchwood color that Caroline liked so much.

The bed frame was white and rusty, just like hers back home, while the sheets were a baby blue.

This couldn't be real.

Without warning, a middle-aged woman walked in, wearing something that a nurse might wear to work.

Caroline gasped in surprise and the woman chuckled when she noticed Caroline's confused expression.

"There's someone waiting to see you," the woman whispered in her ear.

Caroline flinched away from the woman's voice, wishing right then to be alone.

"She's awake!" The woman yelled, calling out to someone unseen.

In a flash, Klaus was standing in front of her, his hands clasped together behind his back and his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Hello, love."

* * *

**hi guys :)**

**What do you think of the three Mikaelson brothers so far? **

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**thanks so much (:**


	3. Into the Sea

**Sorry for the late update, the internet's been mean and life's been crazy :/ **

**Thanks for waiting :)**

* * *

_Day 8_

* * *

Klaus had just appeared in her room.

"Hello, love."

She inched away from him and towards the bed frame, her heart beating fast and her pulse racing.

"Stay away from me," she whispered, her voice quavering.

Klaus did nothing of the sort. In fact, he did the opposite.

He sat on the edge of her bed, a small smile threatening to expose itself.

"It's funny, Caroline, because last time I checked, you would be dead if it hadn't been for me."

She finally looked him in the eye, wondering if what he was saying was true. Now that she thought about it, how could she have gotten back to the mansion without help?

Caroline didn't remember much from the night before. She couldn't remember much at all, actually. What was happening? Then she realized...

"What did you do to me?" Her voice was full of rage and curiosity.

She threw the sheets off of her, looking at her leg with disbelief. She remembered it clearly now: she had fallen and tore open her thigh. But now, there was no sign of an injury—not even a scratch.

Her hands flew to her neck, right where that man had bit her. He had bit her... but why? She couldn't remember.

Klaus glared at her, seeming a bit confused.

"Caroline, what exactly do you remember? Tell me everything."

She returned the strange looks he was giving her before replying. "I fell. I hurt my leg badly. And then..." her eyes widened. "Someone attacked me. He... he bit my neck."

Klaus looked terrified, but she couldn't figure out why.

_How could she remember this when I had compelled her not to...? _He thought.

She struggled to continue on—it was almost as if a thick cloud of fog was hiding something from her. She could see it; she could almost reach it. The memory was just out of her grasp now...

Caroline gasped as she plowed on through the story. "But I wasn't in the woods for a walk. I... I was running away. From something. No, from someone."

Her eyes flew to Klaus'. Her voice grew to be a choked whisper. "It was you."

He said nothing. A small smile appeared on his face.

"You and that other man. All three of you are working together."

Klaus opened his mouth to speak, but Caroline wouldn't let him.

"But why was I running? How did I get here? Why am I here?"

Klaus' face was now a few inches from hers. His pupils dilated and he spoke in a soothing voice.

"I am evil. I want to kill you. I have killed your friends. I am not good and I never will be. Elijah is the one who brought you home. I was the one who bit you. After this, you will forget this ever happened. You _will _attend the ball tonight and avoid me at all costs."

...

Klaus sighed deeply as he left the room where he had left her sleeping.

He wondered why the compulsion hadn't worked. That had never happened before.

Stupid girl was ruining everything. She wasn't apart of the plan. He should've killed her before he had a chance to get to know her. It made killing people harder. When you realized they had families: mothers, fathers, and friends who would all cry at their funerals.

...

After having a nice, long nap, Caroline woke up a few hours later to find a dress hanging from her doorknob.

It was beautiful, really—ice blue—it reminded her of a snowflake.

When she wondered who must have brought it for her, she realized it must have been Elijah. He was the kind one who had brought her home after being attacked. Klaus would never do something like that because he was pure evil.

Caroline felt a strange warmth surge throughout her. Maybe living in the same building as _Klaus _wouldn't be so bad after all. If Elijah were there to protect her, then everything would be all right.

Just the thought of him made her cringe. He had killed all of her friends—Tyler, Matt, Damon, Elena, and Stefan...

A few tears welled up in her eyes before she quickly wiped them away. No. She would not cry. She would be nice and sweet until she earned her freedom. And she would avoid Klaus at all costs.

Caroline glanced at the ticking clock on her wall, reminding her that it was time to get ready. She hugged the dress to her chest before slipping it on and studying herself in the mirror.

She had never had the beautiful dresses that Mrs. Lockwood seemed to be in possession of, but now, more than anything, she felt like a princess.

After twirling once and watching as the dress spin around her, she heard a long bell toll.

Caroline realized that must have meant it was time to go to the ball. But where was it?

She glided down the stairs and outside to the courtyard, which she saw was filled with people all heading one way.

Some of them gave her strange looks, and she realized that she might be the sole human on the entirety of the property. What was to stop any one of them from killing her?

On her way through the back door, Caroline clumsily bumped into someone.

"Oh, excus—" she started to say, before looking up and realizing who it was.

It was none other than the heroic Elijah.

"Good evening, Caroline."

Caroline supposed she didn't know how to act around a murderer. Even if he was a gentleman.

"No, it's okay. It's my fault." After a pause, she said, "Do you know where the ball is?"

He shrugged. "Oh, I guess you'd have to ask someone who lives here."

Caroline chuckled.

"Here," Elijah said, offering his arm to her, "Let me show you."

Caroline linked her arm through his, staring at the man before her with curiosity. How could someone so charming and sweet be related to someone so evil?

They took a step forward, and Caroline closed her eyes for just a mere second to block out the cold gust of air that seemed to fill her body and chill her bones. But when she opened them, she was somewhere different.

The two stood in front of a looming building made of marble, long pillars on the outside; vines covering its walls. It was dark and mysterious, yet filled with light and the sounds of people having fun.

"We're here," Elijah said with a smile.

_Ah, so he had used his vampire speed. Clever._

The two walked in together, arm in arm.

...

Klaus stood from a distance, sipping on his gin as he grimaced. He loosened the grip he had on his glass when he realized that he was squeezing it so hard that it had cracked.

_Using his speed to impress her? _How _original, _Klaus thought bitterly.

He had watched his brother and Caroline link arms and laugh and dance all night.

But he was done. Elijah was getting off track. It almost seemed as though he liked the girl. For him, she was too annoying.

Klaus marched over to them right as Elijah was in the middle of telling some—he was sure it was _to die for_—hilarious story.

"Excuse me, may I have this dance?" he asked, putting forward a charming smile that he knew no girl could resist.

Well, except maybe Caroline.

Her face was full of fear and disgust, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He had told her was the sole reason her friends were dead, and that he was the reason she had almost died. He might have also mentioned that he wanted to kill her...

Elijah glanced at him suspiciously, knowing this wasn't according to plan. Klaus returned the glance.

Earlier, Klaus had explained to his brother that in order to get information out of her, they would need to play good-cop-bad-cop. While Klaus would scare her and threaten her, Elijah would charm the information out of her and 'protect her from the big bad wolf'.

But of course, Elijah must not have realized that he was breaking the rules. There was a big difference between 'charming' and 'flirting'.

Caroline looked up to Elijah expectantly, almost as if asking his permission.

_How sick, _Klaus thought.

He gave her a knowing glance, and without hesitation, Caroline took a small step forward.

Klaus held out his arm, casting a thin smile in Elijah's direction. He watched his brother silently fume as he took his girl away. Caroline reluctantly slipped her arm through his, gulping nervously as she did.

He took her to the far corner of the building, where Elijah couldn't intervene.

As soon as they were alone, Klaus leaned in close to Caroline's ear and whispered, "It was quite funny to hear that you were sad about Tyler's death."

"Don't talk to me about Tyler," she spat, her hands trembling nonetheless.

The two swayed back and forth together while Klaus tried to keep up the act that everything was all right.

"I can do whatever I want. I tore his heart out of his chest and I can do the same to you."

Caroline let a single tear fall down her face, and he watched as it splashed onto the floor.

Klaus continued talking, not knowing exactly why he felt the need to make her feel pain. "Oh, don't cry," he said sarcastically. "I know he wouldn't have cried over you."

Caroline tried to take a step back, but Klaus' grip on her arms was too strong. He wouldn't let her walk away before hearing one last thing.

"What do you mean?" she asked him, her voice suddenly sparked with interest.

"Oh, did you not know? He didn't _really _love you. Your father was a valuable asset to the Wolves, and once he was gone, well, you were but a piece of dust to him."

"Stop it," Caroline choked out, her voice but a mere whisper.

"And not to mention that he was falling head over heels for that Hayley girl," Klaus continued on. "I guess he's more angry about the fact that I killed her than that we took you. Notice that he hasn't exactly come looking for you."

"Stop," Caroline said once again, her voice small and pained.

"Did you even think about the fact that he just _left _you there to die at my hand?"

"Why are you so cruel to me?" she asked him, tears welling in her eyes. "What have I ever done to you? You've already ruined my life."

Caroline suddenly tore away from him, wrenching her arm out of his grasp with every ounce of strength she had. She stormed off and ran outside, grabbing a bottle of tequila on her way out.

...

He was a liar.

He was a murderer.

He had killed her friends.

But... had he? Klaus had said he had killed Tyler. 'Tore his heart out' to be more exact. But what he had said struck an odd chord with her.

His words echoed in her head. _He hasn't exactly come looking for you. He left you there._

You can only look for someone, (or not, in Tyler's case), if you're alive.

But if Tyler was alive, then why had Klaus told her that he had killed him?

_Klaus was a liar, that's why,_ she told herself.

But it still didn't add up.

What if Tyler was alive? Was he looking for her? If most of what Klaus said was true, then the answer was: 'probably not'.

Had he really not loved her the entire time? Had Caroline only been a little pawn in his game that entire time?

_It did make sense that he was cheating with Hayley, _Caroline thought.

The way they looked at each other. How she suddenly became the 'VIP member' of the Wolves.

It was all too much. She had no one.

Her dad was dead. Her mom was locked up. Her boyfriend never loved her. Her other friends were probably dead. She was living under the same roof as three murderers. Not to mention that these people were also bloodsucking vampires. How could her life possibly get any worse?

Caroline was outside on the beach at the moment, looking out into the dark water. She had already drank most of the tequila, and she downed the last half, grimacing as the drink burned her throat.

Nothing was going right.

But the ocean was calling to her.

It's cold waves beckoned her to come closer, to let herself drown, just like in her dreams.

And with that, Caroline took a step forward into the salty waters of the sea.

...

After Caroline ran away, Elijah approached Klaus, obviously angry.

"What just happened? What have you done this time?"

Klaus wouldn't meet his brother's eye. "You two were getting too cozy—too comfortable. I thought she needed to be put in her place."

Elijah was furious now. He took a step towards his brother, his tone low and threatening.

"What exactly did you tell her, Niklaus?"

"I told her the truth," he responded, not in the mood to talk.

"And what, exactly, is that?" Elijah's voice was filled with venom.

"I told her that Tyler never loved her and that he was sleeping with Hayley. Happy now?"

Elijah ran a hand through his hair, deep in thought. "Where is she now?" he asked.

"Outside, probably." Klaus told himself that he wouldn't let himself care.

"Klaus, you idiot!" Elijah did his best to keep his voice low, as to not attract unwanted attention. "Remember last time? She ran away and nearly died. She could be halfway down the coast right now!"

Klaus was furious. Elijah was letting his good-natured heart get in his way. But how could he possibly _have _any sort of feelings for her? She was weak, annoying... and he had known her but a week.

"There's a fence that's easily 60 feet high stopping her from going anywhere, Elijah."

But Elijah didn't look so convinced. "Did you just happen to forget that there is a house full of vampires right here? Ones that could tear her throat out?"

Klaus finally gave in. "Fine," he said. "We'll bring her inside, if that's what makes you happy."

The two walked outside, mumbling a polite 'hello' to any they happened to pass on their way out.

Once outside, the two brothers embraced the cold salty air. As they strode along the beach, looking for any signs of the girl, Klaus asked, "You're not as worried about the plan as you are about the girl, are you, Elijah?"

Elijah remained silent for a few moments before answering, "As are you, Niklaus."

Klaus stopped short, planting himself in the cold sand. "What are you implying?"

The way he said it made it seem like everything was so simple. "You're denying that you like her?"

"Yes, actually," he replied curtly. "She's a nuisance."

Elijah sighed, annoyed.

"I don't see her. I don't smell her. I don't hear her. Where could she have gone?" Klaus asked, almost to himself.

"She has to be out here somewhere," Elijah countered. "There's only one way back inside. If she went inside, she would have walked right by us. There's no way we could have missed her."

Unless...

Klaus peered into the ocean's dark waves, hoping that he wasn't right. He couldn't be right.

But there was something there.

There was something floating in the water.

He accustomed his eyes to the darkness, his head screaming: _NO, NO, NO, _over and over again. If she was dead, everything he would have worked for would be _ruined. _RUINED.

And that was when the moon came out of hiding from behind the clouds and let its light shine down on the sea.

Klaus could see it clearly now: the tiny glimmer that was reflecting off her blond hair.

He dashed into the water, swimming as fast as he could towards her limp figure.

As he reached it, he realized that it was her. It was her blue dress, her blond waves...

_No._

He turned her body over frantically, hoping that it wasn't true. It couldn't be true.

But there it was: her face. Her eyes were closed. He collected her body into his arms and dashed her to the shore. She was so cold.

This couldn't be happening. If Caroline was dead, he would never get his revenge. He would never avenge his brothers or his parents. He promised his mother he would... he couldn't fail her now.

Klaus dragged Caroline by her arms onto the sand, calling out to Elijah for help. Elijah was there in less than a second, his face a mask of horror.

"What have you done, Niklaus?" he choked out.

Klaus bent down to her chest, listening for any sign of a heartbeat. She was a stupid human. Humans didn't survive these sort of things.

Klaus bit into his wrist, forcing the blood down her throat.

His hope deteriorated more and more every second that she didn't open her eyes and come sputtering back to life.

Shaking her entire body, he whispered, "Wake up."

He shook her again, his voice growing louder and louder. "Wake up! Wake up!"

Finally, Elijah grabbed Klaus' shoulders and held him still.

"She's gone, Klaus. There's nothing you can do."

Klaus sat on the sand, staring into space, a cold feeling of regret settling on his features. She was dead because of him. He was his own downfall.

...

After everyone had been told to leave, the two dragged her body inside and laid it on the bed in her room.

"What should we do?" Elijah asked solemnly.

"She'll wake up," Klaus said hoarsely. "Until then, we wait."

"Klaus..." Elijah wasn't as hopeful.

"She'll wake up!" Klaus spat, storming out of the room to sit by the fireplace and sip on some gin and tonic.

After looking at her for a few more seconds, Elijah left too.

...

"_It's not time." The voice came from her right. She turned to face whoever it was and saw that it was her father._

"_Daddy?" she asked hopefully, trying to wrap her arms around him. But when she did, she couldn't feel anything._

_He gave her a sad look. "It's time to wake up, sweetheart," he told her._

_Where was she? The only thing around her was a sickening blackness. _

_"Wake up? But aren't I already awake?"_

_Her father didn't answer. _

_And then... he was gone._

_Suddenly, the sound of a door opening behind her alerted her senses. She whipped around to see a wooden door; light was flowing from it._

_She walked towards it. A strong wind seemed to be pushing her away from it, but she fought hard to move forward. She heard voices coming from behind it._

"_Should we bury her?"_

_"Let's just get it over with."_

_"Klaus..."_

_"She's just a another body, Elijah. Dig her a grave and throw her in it."_

_Caroline clenched onto the door handle, slowly turning it. Who was behind that door? _

_A bright white light flooded her vision._

Caroline's eyes whipped open.

* * *

**A new character will be introduced next chapter... who will it be?**

**What do you think will happen to Caroline? Will she complete the transition and become a vampire? Will she somehow stay human...? ;)**

**If she does become a vampire, how will she handle it? **

**Love it? Hate it? Suggestions? Ideas? Tell me! :)  
**

**Review, Follow, Favorite! You guys are the best (:**


	4. Black Lace

**I updated! Now you guys will get to see what happens... :)**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter and make sure to review it at the end!**

* * *

_Day 8_

* * *

Caroline gasped for air, looking around her; bewildered.

Klaus and Elijah were standing in front of her, their expressions just as surprised.

Nothing made sense.

"How are you—" Elijah started, before Klaus silenced him.

Klaus put a hand to his mouth and slowly dragged it down to his chin. "Yesterday, when I fed you my blood..."

Caroline didn't know what was happening. "Tell me!" she shouted. "Wh-what happened to me?" She was full of fear. Everything was too loud. Too bright.

The brothers looked at each other with concern, not knowing exactly how to explain any of it.

Elijah spoke softly. "You drowned, Caroline."

Caroline shook her head. "How am I alive right now? How did you save me?" She looked to Elijah for answers. He lowered his eyes to the floor.

Klaus scoffed in disbelief and said coolly, "He didn't. And you're not."

Caroline's eyes flew to his in a panic. Tears welled in her eyes as she saw that neither of them would look up.

"Am I..." she couldn't say it.

No. This couldn't be happening.

"A vampire," Klaus finished, his eyes cold and dead.

Caroline started to hyperventilate, unable to control her emotions. She clutched her hair in her hands.

Just to think that more than a week ago, she had been living a normal, comfortable life in her tiny apartment, with a normal boyfriend and normal friends.

Now she was being held captive by two... vampires... in their vampire-infested house. She had almost died already. Now she _was_ dead. Her 'perfect' boyfriend had never even been in love with her and was cheating on her with some slut. Her friends were presumably dead, and if they were alive, they sure as hell weren't looking for her.

Elijah clicked his tongue. "Not exactly," he corrected. "She's in transition." Turning to a scared Caroline, he said, "It means you have the option to live or continue on to the other side. You can feed, or you can..." his voice trailed off and he wouldn't meet her eyes. He was trying to put it delicately, but she needed someone to tell her exactly what the hell was going on.

And that's exactly what Klaus did.

"Either you drink blood," he added with an evil glare, "or you die. It's that simple."

He let Caroline ponder that thought for a moment before continuing on.

"We could let you live. We could give you blood and just like that, you'd become an immortal... what would you call it? _Monster?_" He paused for effect. "Or, you could die. Never live to see another day."

Caroline stared at Klaus, and for the first time, she wondered what had happened to him to make him so cruel. To make him so evil, unkind, harsh, and malicious. Who had made him that way?

But this time she didn't feel tears rise up to the surface. Instead of crying like she would have as a... she gulped. A human... she felt a newfound confidence surge through her. She was no longer a scared little girl, and even _she_ felt it. It was strange.

Realizing that she hadn't exactly given the answer to the question: '_Live or die_?' Caroline snapped her head up and looked straight at Klaus without hesitation.

"I—I want to live. Give me the blood." Caroline mentally slapped herself as she realized she had stuttered a bit when she spoke. She had to be strong throughout all of this—whatever 'this' was.

Both Elijah and Klaus looked at her with surprise, but it quickly faded away from their faces.

_What, did they really expect me to just die, like that? And who knows, there might be a loophole around this whole thing. And if there isn't how could being immortal be so bad? _Many thoughts swirled around in Caroline's head.

"But, ah, see..." Klaus chided, treating Caroline like a child as he waggled a finger at her. "We can't just feed it to you. You have to suck it from the vein."

Caroline sighed in annoyance. He always had to make everything more difficult, didn't he?

Elijah started to protest, obviously finding something wrong with what his brother was saying, but he was quickly silenced with a harsh 'ssh!'.

Caroline huffed in annoyance, which both surprised the brothers. She almost let a small smile slip onto her face, but she pushed it back down. She couldn't let them know she was enjoying this, could she?

"Alright," she said, giving in, much to Klaus' pleasure. "Just fetch me a raven or something. They annoy me so I won't mind killing one."

Again, Elijah sprang forward to say something. And again, he was silenced. He stood there glaring at Klaus, his expression huffy and pouty. Klaus took great joy in this, Caroline noticed. They were such children. Even though Elijah was older, Klaus was obviously the one with all the power.

"Human blood," Klaus finished with a thin smile.

_He's fucking enjoying this?_

All the blood—(quite ironic, really)—drained from Caroline's face.

"I have to kill someone?" she asked, staring into space, her voice sounding distant as she looked.

"No," Elijah finally said gruffly. "I'll do that."

Even in the midst of all the horrifying things that were being said, Caroline realized that Elijah was trying to help her. She wouldn't have to kill anyone. She silently thanked him for that.

Klaus looked quite disappointed, really.

_What a sick, sick, man, _Caroline thought.

His smile had morphed into a small, tight line right where his mouth should've been.

_Take that, you dick, _Caroline thought triumphantly.

Almost as if he could read her mind, Klaus glanced towards her and glared.

She glared right back before she suddenly asked, "Can vampires read minds?"

Elijah let out the slightest of chuckles. "No, Caroline."

"Well, what _can _you do?" she was only the _slightest_ bit curious.

Klaus answered, much to his brother's annoyance. "Everything a human can do except magnified. We're amarter, stronger, faster... more powerful. You can compel—in other words, control minds—of humans. Turns out to be pretty useful when someone sees something they shouldn't," he added on, pointedly glancing in the blonde's direction.

_A not so subtle threat, _Caroline noted. _Two can play at that game._

"And what if, hypothetically..." she tried to carefully plan her phrasing. "...I became a vampire? What would that mean for you?" She asked it in a way that meant she already knew what was going to happen. She would no longer be powerless against him.

Klaus shot her a look and opened his mouth to speak before he was interrupted.

"I'd like this to be over by the next century," said a voice that came from behind them.

Images of blood and teeth flashed in Caroline's mind. But it was only flashes, as if pieces of the memory were somehow missing. This man had attacked her, she thought, her eyes widening. Why hadn't she remembered?

His features were boyish, his hair mousy brown.

_Kol. _That was his name. How did she know this?

Klaus, with his hands clasped behind his back, as they so often were, slowly turned around in annoyance, his features tense.

"Not the best timing, brother."

"Not exactly what I'm known for."

After a moment's silence, Kol glanced over at Caroline, who was glaring at him with such intensity that he wanted to look away.

"So she isn't dead yet?" he asked, not taking his eyes off of her.

Caroline was the one to respond. "That's what you want, isn't it?"

Kol smirked. "I figure you remember, then?"

Elijah's face darkened. "All the compulsion that we placed on her..." he trailed off and his eyes flicked to Caroline's. They were swelling with guilt.

Caroline's eyes widened at the mention of compulsion. "'All the '_compulsion_'? What have you not told me?" Her eyes flitted between the three brothers nervously.

She suddenly leapt out of the bed, pushing past the three of them and throwing open the door. As she did, she knob came flying off and flew across the room. After a brief moment of shock, she continued on.

She raced down the stairs, unable to control her speed. Human servants surrounded her, all giving her strange looks as they passed.

But the only thing Caroline could see was their necks. A tiny vein was throbbing just beneath the skin, calling to her. Beckoning her to come have a taste. Just one taste, she told herself. It wasn't murder.

Black, snake-like veins slithered around her eyes as she lunged for the nearest woman. The woman screamed and dropped the towels she had been holding, but not before the woman was pushed to the ground and Caroline was pulled into someone's arms.

The entire room had stopped to watch the scene play out before them, all shocked. Instead of looking at her with disgust, they gave her looks of pity and then shot angry glares at the Mikaelson brothers; all three stood there, Caroline noticed.

_Did this sort of thing happen a lot? _Caroline asked herself, a bitter scowl drifting onto her face.

Elijah was the one holding her back. She finally gave in and her body relaxed.

"Come on, let's go," he whispered into her ear.

She had no choice but to follow him.

The three reached a tiny room that Caroline had never seen before. A tiny piano sat in one corner, just underneath a small window with ratty curtains. A wooden stool was to the right of a round table topped by a black lace tablecloth. The room didn't seem as masculine as the others, and a strange thought popped into her head. _They have a sister. Does she live here? Why haven't I seen her before?_

"You two keep her under control. I'll be right back," Elijah called out before he left and slammed the door.

_Is he mad at me? _Caroline wondered.

But he was back in a split second, rather unexpectedly, with a vial in his hand. It was filled with a viscous red liquid that Caroline thought could only be blood. But where had he gotten it? Or rather... from whom?

"If you're ready to complete the transition," Elijah told her, his eyes stern, "Then you need to drink this. If you're truly ready for what awaits you, then drink this. Otherwise..."

"But what happened to drinking from the vein?" She glanced suspiciously over at Klaus, who looked pissed as hell.

"Niklaus is lying," Elijah told her. "He wanted to test you to see if you were sired to him. If you were, you would have killed someone without a second thought."

Kol scoffed in disbelief and Caroline whipped around to give him the evil eye.

"Please," he started. "_Her? _Becoming one of us? Ridiculous." The last part was so quiet that she wasn't even sure he had said it. But he had. And he would pay.

She raced up to him, faster than she ever thought she could be, and grabbed him by the throat and pinned him to the wall. The two brothers, she could tell, wanted to help Kol, but they stayed back.

Kol didn't fight or struggle, he just dangled there, almost comfortable in her grasp. It infuriated her that he could be so calm about so many things.

"I _am_ becoming a vampire. And when I _do, _you better watch your back."

And with that, she tossed him to the ground and turned around, sick of seeing his face.

Elijah took that as a sign to hand over the vial to her.

She took it from him with shaky hands and held it to her lips, glancing around the room one last time before downing it.

The taste was strange—but suddenly every craving and urge she had to tear someone's throat out went away. The feeling was euphoric and she suddenly wanted more.

The three brothers waited for a reaction, but Caroline was lost in her own little world. She strained her ears to listen for things that were far away—as in, the kitchen far away. But she could hear beyond that.

Caroline could hear sounds of tiny hummingbirds flying from flower to flower. The sound of their tiny hearts pattering and the flapping of their wings never came to cease. She could hear each and every individual pair of paws in the forest, trampling over tiny branches.

Caroline could hear the sound of each Mikaelson sibling's heartbeat.

All of them were fast, yet rhythmic, all anticipating what she would dare say next.

And then the smell hit her.

It was the smell of salty water and the piscine air; the smell of ancient infinity. It was the sound of soft teardrops on a windowpane—or a roaring, ominous summer storm.

The sea.

It called itself to her, as it had so many times before.

She rushed out of the room, leaving the brothers in the dust. She could hear them calling her name, telling her to come back.

Memories flooded back to Caroline. Dancing with Elijah.

Dancing with Klaus. _Ha. _

The old building stood in front of her, still the same. Yet something felt different about it. All the people were gone. The lights were off. The sound of laughter and music were no longer present.

She stepped inside, pushing the two wooden doors open with a shove. A slight gust of wind blew through the ballroom, rustling the white tablecloths that covered everything in sight. Shivers crawled up her back as she had the strange feeling that she was being watched.

It seemed so lonely and empty inside—unlike the other night, where the building had almost come to life.

It seemed haunted.

That reminded Caroline that she was still wearing her snowflake dress, as she liked to call it. It was still a bit damp from when she—it pained Caroline to even think of that word.

_Drowned. She had drowned. _

Elijah had said that everything was magnified; intensified; heightened, whatever you liked to call it. Did that also mean her emotions were running high, too?

Caroline hadn't really thought about it before, but she was now. It was just a tad bit unavoidable.

Death didn't just mean that she was a vampire. She couldn't only suck blood or be able to do things she shouldn't have been able to. She was dead. She didn't have a pulse. She would never enjoy the taste of real food again. She would never age—never have another _true _birthday. The candles on the cake wouldn't mean anything, because she wasn't getting older. She would look this way forever.

_Forever. _

Caroline pictured the way the room had looked the other night. But suddenly, it was no longer a figment of her imagination. It was like she was standing in the room with them all. She could even feel there breath on her neck as she stood there at the center of a room.

She was a ghost. A shadow.

Girls in elegant gowns stood next to their uptight escorts who politely sipped on glasses of champagne. Herself and Klaus swayed side to side slowly in one corner of the room. He was smiling while she looked absolutely terrified.

Elijah stood on the opposite end of the room, talking to a young girl while still keeping his eyes on his brother and herself.

Her past-self suddenly ran out of the room, grabbing a bottle of something on the way out. Elijah flashed over to Klaus, looking angry. After sharing some words, they went outside. She wished she could hear what they were saying, but something out of her control stopped her from listening in.

She assumed that they had gone looking for her.

_But it was too late_, she thought sadly. At least they had tried.

The sound of a creaking floorboard snapped Caroline out of her vision—or memory? She whipped her head up to where she thought she saw a flash of something disappear behind a doorway.

But even when she listened more closely, there was nothing there. No sound or trace of anything—or anyone.

Caroline slowly disappeared up the long, marble staircase, tracing a single finger along the banner. It was cold to the touch.

There wasn't much upstairs—a tiny living room filled with a rocking chair and a dresser. The curtains on the windows were made of black lace. She had seen those before...

A strange feeling was welling in her stomach. Caroline exited the room, walking down the dark hallway.

The room at the end of the hall was not as empty as the others.

A large picture window gave Caroline a view of the beach below. The walls of the room were painted white and the desk in the corner was a deep mahogany that Caroline felt was quite beautiful. She strode up to it and found that tiny little carvings had been etched into the surface.

'RM + MG forever', it read. Next to 'forever' was an intricate infinity symbol. Caroline traced her hand over it, wondering who RM was. And who was MG? Were they lovers? Childhood friends? As far as Caroline knew, this carving could have been made centuries ago.

"You shouldn't be here," a voice snarled from behind her.

Caroline instantly drew her hand back from the desk, turning around, her eyes widening in fear.

A blond, maybe in her early twenties, (she could be 742, for all she knew), stood before Caroline, her crystal eyes blazing with anger and her fists balled up at her sides.

Caroline stood there, frozen, her mouth agape, not sure what to say.

"I'm sorry, I—" Caroline started to say, before she was cut off abruptly.

"You shouldn't _be_ here," the girl repeated.

She drew back in fear, feeling that this girl was deranged—off her hinges. The way her eyes seemed so empty; the way her skin had a sickly gray tinge to it...

The girl lunged forward, knocking Caroline to the ground, sending a sickening cracking sound through the air.

Caroline yelped in pain, grasping her shoulder. She was sure she had dislodged it from its socket.

_That little bitch._

She leapt up from the ground, crashing into the girl, sending her flying back into the wall.

As she stood, waiting for the girl to open her eyes and get up, a man burst into the room.

_Klaus._

He glanced at her quickly before turning his attention to the girl lying slumped against the wall.

"How did you get out, Bekah?" he mumbled beneath his breath as he dragged the girl into the room next to them.

_Bekah... Rebekah... as in, Klaus' sister? _Caroline stole a quick glance at the desk. _Rebekah Mikaelson... I should have known. RM! If Rebekah is RM, then who _is_ MG? _She shook her head. It had been a long day.

After locking the door behind him, Klaus stepped in to find Caroline still staring at the desk.

He sighed. He should have had that old thing burned years ago.

Klaus noticed her shoulder was bent at an odd angle. She must have injured it in her little spat with his sister.

"You really need to stop getting injured," he told her.

She didn't reply. It was almost as if he could hear the gears inside of her pretty little head spinning and grinding, trying to figure something out.

"Let me fix that for you," he said, gesturing towards her shoulder.

She shrugged away from him, flinching as she did. "It's fine. I'll do it myself," she told him, her teeth gritted in pain.

_Maybe she had changed, but she was still the same stubborn girl_, Klaus noted silently.

"So you plan on doing _that _all by yourself?" he let a chuckle slip out between the cracks of his lips.

Caroline sighed in annoyance and defeat as she said, "Ugh, fine. Fix my stupid shoulder. Just make it quick."

_So all the fear wasn't gone, _he thought. _She's not invincible, as she might have thought she was. Even the undead have their weaknesses. _

He stepped towards her in one swift motion, taking her shoulder in his hands.

Klaus had done this before. If before meant once, then he had done it before. Hopefully he would do it right.

"On the count of three," he told her, "I'll move it. Prepare yourself."

Caroline rolled her eyes at his theatrics. "Just get it over with already."

"One, two..."

_Crack! _Her shoulder popped right back where it was supposed to be. As snug as a hand in a glove.

Caroline yelped in pain, pulling away from him.

"What the hell? I thought you said on three!"

Klaus let out a hearty laugh. Her expression was so betrayed! _Priceless._

"I did," he told her, his lips curling into a small smile.

She smacked him on the shoulder playfully. "You ass," she muttered.

Klaus smiled at her from ear to ear.

_So he wasn't all that bad, _Caroline thought.

She cleared her throat and stepped back as she realized how close they had gotten. "Alright, Dr. Phil, let's go back."

Klaus snickered once more. "Dr. Phil is a psychologist, not a surgeon, sweetheart."

Caroline threw her hands up in frustration, even though she was smiling. "Just take me home, smartass."

* * *

**What did you guys think of the little Klaus/Caroline interaction?**

**What did you think of Caroline's transformation? Her choice to become a vampire?  
**

******How do you think Caroline will handle this overall?**  


**Who do you think is MG?! Why is he important and why is his name carved into the desk? How does he know the Mikaelson family?!**

**What do you think happened to Rebekah to make her the way she was? **

**You'll find out sooner or later... if I feel motivated enough to write (cough, cough) ;) **

**Suggestions, comments, ideas? Do you want more? If this was a book would you burn it? (...hopefully not)**

**Review, Follow, Favorite! **


	5. The Wolves' Battlecry

**Sorry, this chapter's shorter than most. But I'll try to update tomorrow to give you some Klaroline! **

**Special shoutout to WeasleysGroupie for writing such a long review, answering all of my questions, and making me laugh! You're the reason I'll be updating today and tomorrow :) **

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

_The dinner had been fun for the most part. I sat next to Caroline while my mother and father sat at the heads of the table. _

_Hayley sat across from me, and I couldn't help but notice the little hints she gave me. Tonight would be a good night. _

_After a short speech from my father, dinner was served and we all ate and drank and had a good time._

_Caroline was quieter than usual. Oftentimes, I caught her glaring at Hayley. Something didn't seem right._

_And then suddenly, just as I was about to ask what was wrong, she leapt up from the table, scurrying towards the bathroom._

_Her breath was ragged and her eyes were wild... with fear, almost._

_I stood up from my seat, setting my balled up napkin on the table, and called out to her. I pushed chair back from the table hurriedly, but my father motioned for me to sit down._

"_She'll be fine," my father said, fake-sympathy in his deep brown eyes._

"_I should go check on her," I insisted._

"_Tyler, Caroline will be _fine_." His voice was gruff and I could tell that there would be no way out of this. My parents had never liked Caroline, and more so now than ever before. Her father had just died, and he was the main reason that Caroline had been sought out. I was sure that they would be more than happy to break us up. It wasn't like she had given us anything._

_Everyone at the table gave me side-glances to see what I would do next. My mouth set itself in a firm line and I sat down, continuing to eat._

_A loud crash sent us all into a state of worry. _

"_What was that?" Elena asked, clutching Damon's arm in fear. _

_My father stood up out of his seat and whispered something into the guard's ear behind him. I think his name was Frank. I didn't catch much, but I did hear something like: 'Michael'._

I had a horrible feeling that something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

_After Frank didn't return, we all felt uneasy. And that was when it began. _

_Two men raced into the room; so quick that you wouldn't believe it was real. Everyone started to scream, not knowing what was happening. _

_One man, who had dark brown hair, took my mother by the neck and held her in his grasp. She struggled and screamed for my help, but I stood there, frozen. The second man, who had curly blond hair—raced up to her and drove a knife through her heart. She looked at me with desperation, right before she cluttered to the floor. Blood pooled around her lifeless body._

_The same man shot my father in the head a second later, not even noticing that I was still there._

_And that was when I ran. Damon, Elena, Matt, and Stefan followed. As we ran out the door, we sprinted down the street. The only question that littered my mind was: 'What now?' _

_Stefan had different ideas. He stopped us suddenly, even though I urged to race forward to have a chance at surviving. I wanted to live. I wanted to live to see the bastard who had killed everyone I loved die. _

"_We have to go back and get Caroline!" he shouted, grabbing me by the shoulders. "And what about Hayley? Weren't you two _so _close?" _

_I raised my hands up in the air. "Even if they're alive, there's no point going back now! We have to get out of here!"_

_Stefan scoffed, his face a mask of disgust. "Then their blood is on your hands." _

_A surge of anger rushed through me. I shoved him backwards. "When we get revenge, Stefan, it'll be on my terms. That man will pay."_

Tyler sat on the cold floor of the warehouse, thinking of everything that had happened. It had been only 9 days since all of it had happened, and it was the only thing on his mind.

His mother and father were dead at that man's hands. Caroline was probably dead, too. Even if he had cheated on her, a small part of him had fallen for that bright smile and bubbly personality. Who knew? Caroline and Hayley could be alive, but the chances were slim.

It was a horrible thing to say, and she probably hated him from heaven, but it was true. If she was dead because of him, he would never forgive himself.

Tyler had learned the man's name: Klaus Mikaelson.

Stefan walked over to where Tyler sat on the floor of the old warehouse that they had found, his boots making a thudding sound on the concrete floor.

"You know, we do have to go find her at some point."

Tyler looked at Stefan quizzically. Of course he knew whom he was talking about: Caroline.

"Why do you care so much?" Tyler asked, his voice growing suspicious. He stood up so he could be face to face with Stefan.

"Because someone here has to give a damn about getting her and Hayley back."

_He is such a jealous bastard, _Stefan thought to himself.

Tyler stepped forward, challenging Stefan to say one more thing. "Who said I don't give a damn?"

Stefan took a step forward as well, not backing down. "The point is, Tyler, no one's _doing _anything. We have to at least try."

"And what?" Tyler asked, his voice rising. "Get ourselves killed for nothing?"

Stefan sighed in exasperation. "Don't you understand? Even if they are dead, it won't be for nothing! You yourself said that Klaus has to pay. His entire family has to pay for what they've done to us. We have to get revenge."

Tyler thought this over for a moment before replying, his hands on his waist. He dragged a hand over the slowly forming stubble on his face. "Well, where do we start?"

Stefan sat down on the floor, his face pensive. "Okay, well we know the guys' name. Mikaelson. Klaus Mikaelson. We know he has three other siblings: Elijah, Kol, and Rebekah."

Tyler shrugged and sat down as well. "Well, Rebekah's questionable. Rumor has it she was killed off in a raid in 2003. Someone shot her in the chest."

Stefan looked skeptical. "How can we be positive?"

Tyler scoffed, surprised that his friend wouldn't be so quick to believe him. "The man watched her bleed out, Salvatore. If she's not dead, then I don't know what death is anymore."

Stefan sighed and rested his chin in his palm. "Do we know anything else about them?"

"Mother, father, and two other brothers died in some mysterious fire around 10 years ago."

"Well, where was this fire?" Stefan asked, his voice growing more excited by the minute. "They could still be living in that house. If they're there, then we could find them!"

Tyler held up his hands to stop Stefan from rambling. "Don't get ahead of yourself yet, bud. The entire house burned down. A library is in its place now."

Stefan put his head in his hands; feeling like this was going nowhere.

"Couldn't we go there anyways?"

"I guess... We'll try tomorrow."

"We need to have something solid to build off of."

"Well, I mean, how about how strange they all are, for one? The way they snuck in, without a sound... and their speed? It's not human, Stefan," Tyler replied.

Stefan couldn't argue with that. There was definitely something off about the Mikaelson family.

All of a sudden, the warehouse door swung open, letting in sunlight and scaring the hell out of Tyler and Stefan.

But it was none other than Damon and Elena, who had gone out for supplies. They each carried large, black golf bags that could easily carry large dog if they wanted to.

"We went back to the house to find that it had been ransacked," Damon said with a smile.

Stefan marveled at his brother's optimism. How could he possibly be happy about this?

Damon noticed the confused expression on everyone's faces. "But they didn't check the cellar! We not only have enough weapons and ammo to last a lifetime, I brought tons of cash, liquor, and food!"

All four of them cheered, and Damon quickly passed around the beers. "Don't want to let them get cold," he said quickly, casting a knowing glance at Stefan.

Stefan had stopped drinking after his spiraling phase, but Damon knew that his brother—especially now—would need something to ease the nerves.

He tossed one over to him, and Stefan caught it with lightning-quick reflexes, quickly mumbling a thank you.

"So, what have you two boys been gossiping about while we were gone?" Damon asked, a small smile playing on his lips and his blue eyes sparkling.

"About how to find Caroline and Hayley, actually," Tyler snapped, sick of how Damon was treating this like a get together.

"Oh, right, you had a thing with both of them, right?" Damon asked, his voice innocent, but his smile cruel.

"Damon!" Elena scolded, causing him to fall silent.

Tyler glared daggers at the man, opening his mouth to say something.

Before things could get any worse, Elena intervened. "Where's Matt?" she asked suddenly, looking around the empty room.

Stefan pointed to the top floor. "Having a nap. He stood watch last night—all night, to be more specific; he's exhausted."

Elena sighed and sat down with the boys. "Well, he's missing out on all the fun," she said, taking a swig of her beer.

It grew deathly silent at that moment, and no one met anyone's eyes. They all thought of how what she said sounded. 'All the fun'. Was mourning the group's friends and hiding out from their killers really fun?

To break the awkward silence, Stefan raised his glass in a toast. "To Caroline and Hayley," he said, "Wherever they may be."

* * *

**What does everyone think of Tyler's choice to leave Caroline and Hayley behind?  
****How do you think he's going to react when he learns of Hayley's death and the fact that Caroline has been alive this whole time?  
****What do you think of Forwood (barf, in my opinion) ?**

**How do you like Stefan, Elena, and Damon? (Matt was asleep for this chapter, haha :))**

**Please feel free to leave any suggestions/ideas/criticism/compliments... or just stop by to say how much you love it! (or don't, that's okay too). **


	6. Tea and Memories

**DO YOU GUYS LIKE THE NEW COVER ART? I made it myself! Leave your opinions at the end!**

**To izzabizzle- I love the Steroline friendship too! And yeah, thank god Forwood is over.**

**To Kat- maybe... :)**

**Another update! Woo! Sorry it's late, I went out to get chipotle and starbucks.**

* * *

_Day 8_

* * *

After Klaus had so graciously escorted her back to the house, one of the servants—specifically, the one who had helped her after Kol attacked her (Lucinda, was it?)—led her to an empty room where she could pick out any clothing she would need.

The water had ruined her perfect snowflake dress. Caroline was almost positive that she smelled like dried up seaweed.

Klaus stood at the doorway for a brief second before leaving, without even a goodbye. Caroline hadn't even had the chance to thank him.

_Oh, well, _she thought with a shrug of the shoulders.

The servant eventually left, too, muttering something about cooking up a nice meal for the Mikaelsons.

Caroline was a bit confused at first; the room seemed completely empty. That was, until, she checked the closet. It wasn't much of a closet, per say, but another wing of the house.

It was filled with clothes from every era: the roaring 20s, the despairing 30s...

She found flapper dresses and feather boas all hung in one corner—they were probably Rebekah's. Next to those were a few men's suits, along with a few fedoras sitting on the floor.

In the next section, long, flowing, semi-formfitting dresses greeted Caroline with colors such as red, green and chestnut. A (she hoped) fake foxtail hung off one of the shoulders gracefully.

Trench coats, sunhats, white gloves, shoulder pads, vibrant-colored pants who's ends flared out easily near the ankles, neon headbands, legwarmers, and high-waisted jeans. They truly had it all.

Except none of it was exactly her style. She promised herself she would never be caught dead in those hideous high-waisted jeans.

She finally traveled towards the back of the room, where she found a small wooden door. She pushed on it slightly, and it flew open, hitting the wall with a bang. She flinched for a split-second, hoping that no one would come barging in and scold her for going places she wasn't supposed to.

When Caroline entered the room, she gasped. In front of her were the most beautiful dresses she had ever seen. They looked to be from the Victorian era.

One was a strapless, pale peachy pink color. The torso was covered in tiny, sparkling, beads, and the bottom was made up an aerophane material.

The dress beside it was also strikingly beautiful: It was a deep indigo, with tiny white lace scattered across the front. Caroline was in heaven.

And that was when she saw it. The dress was definitely out of place. She knew it from somewhere...

She ran up to the dress to get a closer look.

The Rear Window Dress! Grace Kelly had worn it in one of her movies. The top was shiny black velvet, along with sleeves that just barely covered the shoulders. The bottom was white, light, and airy, with an intricate design just at the tippy top. She could just imagine it with pearls and long white gloves...

A voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Having fun?"

She whipped around, releasing the dress from her clutches. "I didn't know anyone was here."

Klaus chuckled. "You were gone for a while. Wanted to make sure you hadn't murdered someone."

Caroline's eyes narrowed. "Because that's your job, isn't it?"

When she saw how angry he looked, she instantly regretted her decision to lash out.

Klaus' former smile morphed into a thin line. "I came in to tell you that lunch is served. Once you're changed your free to come eat."

Caroline nodded, not saying anything, feeling a tad bit guilty that she constantly turned their conversations into arguments. She supposed she could blame it on her raging vampire hormones, which caused her to crave excessive amounts of ice cream and cry and watch sappy soap operas. Her transformation had also caused her to be way more pissy/PMS-y than usual. And she had always been a pretty moody, insecure person, so she guessed now it would be a hundred times worse.

She thought that maybe she should apologize to Klaus for what she had said, but he was already gone. Right now, she needed as many people supporting her as possible. Even if they were all murderers.

Caroline sauntered out of the tiny room, back into the thing they called a 'closet'. She picked out a white button down shirt that had probably once belonged to one of the three Mikaelson brothers, (not that Kol or Klaus would need it any time soon) a tan trench coat, black tights, and brown ankle boots.

The smell of earl grey tea wafted to Caroline's senses and she hurried upstairs to get changed. She hadn't been in 'her room' since the accident. The pale yellow walls were the same. The blue comforter was the same. It was Caroline that was different.

"Hello, love," said Klaus' voice from behind. Caroline whipped around to face him. Couldn't he give her some privacy? And hadn't she just seriously pissed him off? Why was he wearing something different? Either he was the fickle dresser or...

Except when she looked at Klaus, he wasn't looking at her. He was looking past her at something. No, at someone. But how could this be possible? How could she be on the bed _and_ standing in the middle of the room?

Unless... he had compelled her to forget all of this. But why? Caroline mentally silenced herself and closely listened to their conversation.

Human Caroline inched away from Klaus and towards the bed frame. Caroline stood there, wondering how any of this was possible.

"Stay away from me," Human Caroline whispered, her voice quivering. She was more than scared of this man. She was terrified. God, had she really been such a weak person? Klaus was just a man.

Instead, Klaus sat on the edge of her bed, smiling.

"It's funny, Caroline, because last time I checked, you would be dead if it hadn't been for me."

Human Caroline finally looked him in the eye, wondering if what he was saying was true. Caroline put a hand to her mouth. What was he talking about? Had Klaus been the one to carry her back home?

"What did you do to me?" Human Caroline blurted out suddenly, her eyes full of fire.

Without warning, Human Caroline threw the sheets off of herself, looking down, her eyes wide. Caroline scurried over to see what she was looking at.

Human Caroline's hands flew to her neck, her eyes bulging out.

Klaus glared at her, seeming a bit confused.

"Caroline, what exactly do you remember? Tell me everything," he said.

"I fell. I hurt my leg badly. And then..." her eyes widened. "Someone attacked me. He... he bit my neck."

Caroline gasped. Was that true? It was. She had known it. But at the same time, she had told herself it wasn't true.

Caroline glanced over to where Klaus was sitting. He looked extremely worried and she wondered what exactly he was thinking.

Human Caroline gasped. "But I wasn't in the woods for a walk. I... I was running away. From something. No, from someone."

Human Caroline's eyes flew to Klaus'. Her voice grew to be a choked whisper. "It was you."

Klaus didn't reply.

"You and that other man. All three of you are working together."

Klaus opened his mouth to speak, but Human Caroline wouldn't let him.

"But why was I running? How did I get here? Why am I here?"

Klaus' face was now a few inches from hers. His pupils dilated and he spoke in a soothing voice.

"I am evil. I want to kill you. I have killed your friends. I am not good and I never will be. Elijah is the one who brought you home. I was the one who bit you. After this, you will forget this ever happened. You _will _attend the ball tonight and avoid me at all costs."

And suddenly, Caroline was alone in the room. The memory disappeared as quickly as it had come.

There was a knock on the door.

"I'm getting changed!" Caroline shouted quickly, trying to think up an excuse to figure this all out.

"The tea's getting cold," said the voice. She realized it was Elijah.

"One second," Caroline yelled through the door, yanking off her dress and slipping on the dress shirt, leggings, and trench coat. She laced up her shoes, glad to finally be into something clean that didn't smell like fish.

As she raced down the wooden stairs, she thought about what Klaus had said. He hadn't killed all of her friends... she had figured that out at the ball. Except her memory was a bit hazy from that night. He had been lying. But why? It had been a slip-up, but still... he had no reason to lie. Unless he wanted to keep up the bad guy act.

She suddenly realized that there could have been a billion reasons. If her friends were alive, then she would have hope that they were alive and would come looking for her.

And right when she thought he wasn't so bad...

But why protect Kol? Why say that Klaus had bitten her instead? Why say that Elijah was the one who had carried her home when it had been him? Was he really that desperate for everyone to hate him? Was this how he pushed people away?

"Fashionably late, I see," Klaus said, not glancing up from the book he was reading.

Caroline ignored his comment and looked at the room around her. A tiny glass panel was on the ceiling, letting the sunlight in when it wasn't miserably dreary. A long, wooden table covered in a black lace tablecloth—(probably Rebekah's attempt at interior decorating)—sat in the middle of the room. Elijah sat at the head of the table, while Kol had just strode in, eyeing Caroline up and down.

"My, my, my," he said, a wolfish grin slowly spreading on his face, "I see you've found my brother's dress shirt. Don't you suppose you want that back, huh, Nik? Considering how good it looks on our guest and all."

Klaus finally looked up from his book: some Anne Rice novel. His eyes quickly swept over Caroline's attire before glancing back down.

"Just leave me be, Kol. I'm reading this terrible book about vampires. Not accurate at all! Quite a disgrace, really."

Elijah looked up from the newspaper he had been reading, motioning her to sit down. "There's tea in the pot—London fog—and sandwiches on the platters. Help yourself."

Caroline was confused. They did know she was no longer a human, right? Wouldn't this taste terrible to her?

She shrugged and decided to try it anyways. She poured the 'London Fog' into her teacup, which she later learned was Earl Grey tea and a spoonful of honey, and served herself a few tiny sandwiches. One was made of cucumber and mayonnaise, while the other was lox and red onions.

She bit into one of the sandwiches delicately, savoring the salty taste. It was delicious. How she enjoyed this, she didn't know. She finished the two sandwiches quickly, wanting more.

Caroline even sipped on her tea, letting the honey drip down her throat.

After finishing, she glanced around the room to see that all three Mikaelson brothers were doing something different.

Klaus had a strange expression on his face as he read his book; Elijah looked only semi-interested in the current events before him; and Kol—well, Kol was playing with his food.

"What's the occasion?" she suddenly blurted out. She wished she had stayed silent.

"Elijah and I are leaving for a few months," Kol responded.

"Why's that?" Caroline asked, suddenly growing suspicious.

"Business," Elijah answered, not looking up.

"And what exactly _is _business?" Caroline asked, her eyes narrowing. She knew she probably shouldn't have been asking questions in her situation, but she felt like she had the right to know.

Klaus and Elijah glanced at each other, keeping their mouths shut.

"Fine," Caroline said, standing up from the table. "If you won't tell me, I'll find out myself."

And with that, she stormed off from the table, determined to find out what the Mikaelson brothers were really up to.

...

Elijah and Klaus spoke in private in their soundproof study.

"Do you really think that this is a good idea? What if nothing becomes of it? Plus, do all of them really deserve to pay? Tyler was the only one linked to the fire."

"We _need _to find them, Elijah. We need to find _all _of them. There can't be any survivors of the Wolves. We can't take chances on having them get revenge. Because as far as they'll know, we will have done this for no reason. But really, we're doing this to get even."

Elijah stayed silent for a moment, pondering all of this.

"Listen, Elijah, if you're not 100% committed to this, then I'll be happy to go in _your_ place," Klaus snarled.

Elijah shook his head. "I don't have doubts about killing Tyler, but the rest? What have they ever done to us?"

"The wolves set fire to a house with our mother, father, and two brothers inside! Four people, Elijah! They didn't deserve to die! It was mother's dying promise to me to get revenge. I have to avenge her."

_The current members of the Wolves have nothing to do with this, _Elijah thought. But he stayed silent. He knew Klaus wouldn't ever have a chance of happiness without this.

...

That night, as Caroline sat in bed, she heard a knock on her door.

For the past few hours, she had been thinking. Thinking about why Kol and Elijah would possibly need to leave for a few months for 'business'. She had thought that perhaps they were looking for Tyler and the others (if they were alive at this point).

She had also been thinking about the memory Klaus had stripped away from her. What did it mean?

"Come in," Caroline yelled absentmindedly.

Elijah strode into the room in his typical suit and tie, a strange look on his face.

"I just came to say goodbye, since I won't see you for some time to come," he said.

"Not forever, though, right?" Caroline was a bit sad that he was leaving her like this. Abandoning her, almost. She had been counting on him to help her get through the rough days ahead. She might have been in a state of bliss at the moment, but when the bliss wore off and she realized what she was in for—and it would—she would need someone by her side. If she was even alive at the point, that is.

Elijah shook his head. "The months will go by quickly. I'll be back here in no time to teach you the ways of vampirism."

She chuckled. But she could tell he was thinking the same thing as she was: if Klaus even kept her alive for that long...

He sat down on the side of her bed and grasped her hand. "I can tell you're nervous."

"What, are you a mind reader, too?" Caroline said sarcastically.

"No, but your heart is speeding up. You're thinking about what will happen when I'm not here. But I can assure you, Klaus will bring you no harm."

But Caroline wasn't so sure. "Goodnight, Elijah."

"Goodnight, Caroline."

And with that, he was gone.

* * *

**If you guys want to know about the dresses I'm talking about:  
a) search the Grace Kelly Rear Window Dress on google (it's beautiful!)**

**What do you guys think about Caroline finding out about Klaus' compulsion? What do YOU think it means?**

**Don't worry, we'll see Elijah again :) ANd just to clear things up, there's nothing romantic going on there. Even if there was in the future, it would be one-sided. Don't worry, Klaroliners! (: What do you think about him leaving? What do you think him and Kol are up to? What effect will this have on Caroline? On Klaus? On the both of them?**

**Have a good Sunday :)**


	7. Storm Warning

**I swore to myself that I would update on Thursday, but I had a math test to study for :(**

**My sincerest apologies :) Enjoy the new update!**

* * *

_Day 14_

* * *

_The golden sun rose up behind the hill's crest and shone down on the fields. Caroline stood there patiently in her white sundress, waiting for something—what she was waiting for, she didn't know. _

_Caroline pinched herself and found that she could feel her touch. What was happening?_

_An invisible force pulled her towards the top of a cliff that had suddenly appeared before her._

_She felt as if she was being pushed from the cliff by an invisible hand—she was falling, falling..._

_But when she landed, she wasn't where she expected. She was no longer surrounded by wheat fields, but by a blanket of snow. Harsh winter winds pushed her backwards, but she pushed on, trudging through the thick white snow in an indigo dress. _

_A cloud of fog rolled in from the west, and Caroline found that she couldn't hear anything. _

_A dark shape suddenly appeared in front of her, revealing itself to be a wolf. _

_Its fur was black as night, and its eyes were amber and menacing._

_A pool of blood was forming below the wolf as it staggered forward out of the thick fog and towards Caroline._

"_Why did you do this to me?"_

_Its gruff voice surprised Caroline and caused her to jump back. Those crimson eyes were full of so much pain, and all she wanted to do was take the pain away..._

_The wolf fell over on its side; it's eyes shut closed._

_Caroline ran over to the wolf, holding it's head in her hands. "No!" she howled, breathing in the midnight air.. An imperial blue sky faced her._

Caroline woke up, clutching the blankets around her for warmth. It was almost as if the cold snow was still touching her bare skin.

She looked around at her surroundings, sighing in relief. Even being locked up in the Mikaelson manor was better than having those dreams.

Fourteen days she had been living there; four of those of which Elijah had been gone. Klaus and her had been living under the same roof for six days, while crazyass Rebekah lived in her prison above the ballroom. Caroline had tried to avoid him as much as possible, except for meals, where he threw blood bags at her without a second glance.

Lucinda, who seemed to be the only one willing to speak to her, had fetched a few normal outfits, compared to the 1960s housewife dresses she had grown accustomed to wearing.

Caroline strode into the dining room wearing navy blue jeans and a floral blouse, relishing how much she had missed pants. How did people ever survive in the old days?

She walked in to find Klaus reading a book she didn't recognize—no doubt something better than an inaccurate Anne Rice novel.

"Finally reading something different?" she inquired casually, figuring she might as well talk to _someone._

Klaus glanced up and surveyed her outfit, a small smirk playing on his lips. "Finally wearing something from this century?" he shot back, watching her brows furrow.

He was frustrating her. _Good. _

She pushed back a chair from the table and seated herself, grabbing a sesame bagel, a piece of salmon, and a tub of cream cheese—this was one of her favorite breakfast meals—even if she technically only drank blood now.

She slathered on the cream cheese before delicately placing the salmon and a few onions on top. Afterwards, she sprinkled on a few capers and dug in.

Klaus watched her with curiosity, wondering how she could enjoy human food. After he was turned, he did all he could to avoid it.

Caroline set down her bagel on the porcelain plate, admiring the tiny pink flowers that sat on the edges. A tiny bumblebee was painted in the center of it.

"Why am I still alive?" Caroline asked suddenly, licking a dollop of cream cheese off of her finger.

This question surprised Klaus. He had figured she wasn't smart enough to even consider thinking of anything.

He looked up and met her eyes for a second, his facial expression blank and emotionless. "Oh, don't get your hopes up, love. We'll kill you eventually."

Caroline's face paled the slightest bit before she cleared her throat and sat up straighter in her chair. "Oh, will you?" she looked him straight in the eyes, daring him to show _any _sign of emotion whatsoever. She had seen just a flicker of his human side the other night. It must be there. If she could make him realize that, then she might be able to save her own skin.

He rolled his eyes and smirked. "Don't waste my time with useless questions. I have things to do. People to kill." He dragged out the last word for emphasis, but Caroline didn't look away. Klaus stood up out of his chair, taking his book with him and heading away from her.

"Alright then," Caroline retorted, smacking her lips together. "How's this for a useless question? Why did you compel me to think all of those things about the attack?"

Klaus stopped dead in his tracks, but he didn't turn around.

"That's right," Caroline continued. She had finally mustered up the courage to mention it and she wasn't going to stop now. "I know you made me think it was _you _who had attacked me. I know it was _you_ who made me think it was Elijah who carried me home. I know that my friends aren't dead, despite what you want me to believe." She couldn't be _sure _about the last part, but she had to hope.

Klaus whipped around and took Caroline by the neck, pinning her to the wall, leaving her feet dangling above the floor below. "Of course you remember, Caroline. That's just _one _of the perks of being a vampire," he snarled.

_God, he is so sarcastic and patronizing, _Caroline thought. She couldn't stand it.

He continued on. "And the fact is, I don't have to answer to the likes of you." He spat out the last word.

_It's all right, _she thought bitterly. _I'm used to being treated like trash. _

Although she tried not to show it, she was scared, and he knew it. He lowered her to the ground slowly, the anger not disappearing from his eyes. As soon as her feet touched the ground, he released her from his grasp.

Her hands flew to her neck, her blue eyes finally lowering to the ground.

She stormed away, her boots making clacking sounds on the floor. He listened in on her until he heard her bedroom door slam shut, rattling the entire house.

...

_God, was he _infuriating!

Caroline paced around her room, walking from the window to the door and then back again.

Did he think he could just treat her like a freaking_ slave_? Keep her here, locked up in this prison of a house with a homicidal blond and a murderer like him? She wanted answers. She _deserved _answers from him.

Where were her friends? Were they alive? If they were, why had he lied about killing them?

Why had he brought her here? Why was he keeping her alive? Was he really going to kill her?

What feud was so prominent between the Mikaelsons and the Wolves that people had to lose lives over it? What was the root of all the fighting?

Maybe she didn't need to know everything right then. Maybe it would come with time—if Klaus kept her alive that long. But she needed to know. She needed to know if Tyler was alive.

Whether or not he loved her... whether or not he had cheated on her... he was the only anchor she had to real life at the moment. Hopefully he was thinking of her.

...

Klaus could hear Caroline pacing upstairs.

He had upset her. For some strange reason, he felt a pang of sympathy for the girl.

He brushed the feeling away quickly, turning to the person behind him.

His eyes met hers and he smiled. "Rebekah."

She wore her platinum blond hair down, letting it hang limply on her shoulders. She wore dark wash jeans and a white sweater.

Rebekah smiled, like something was up her sleeve.

"You took your meds today, I see."

Rebekah shrugged. "Sometimes I don't take them on purpose. I thought it was fun to scare the new girl. Who is she?"

Klaus' eyes narrowed slightly. Her interest in Caroline was less than normal and discomforting. His sister always had ulterior motives.

"A hostage." Klaus kept his reply short and curt. He had promised the goodhearted Elijah that nothing would happen to the girl in his absence. Unless she did something to seriously piss him off, he would keep his word and keep her alive. No harm would come to her. Especially not from his deranged wreck of a sister.

Rebekah put her hands on her hips and pouted. "Well, why isn't she dead yet?"

"Elijah and I have other uses for her, sister," Klaus replied.

Rebekah scoffed. "Oh, like what, Nik? A human blood bag?" She snickered.

Klaus let out a breath of annoyance upon hearing his sister's words. She could be so dysfunctional sometimes, yet she was one of the most intelligent people he knew.

"She's not human, Bekah." Klaus held his ground, not knowing how his sister would react to this piece of news.

It wasn't every day that the hostages died and turned into supernatural beings, was it?

Bekah's eyes widened. "Is she the same one who... went in my room?" her face darkened and Klaus tried to change the subject. But the way he faltered let Rebekah know that she was. That girl had come into her room.

That girl had attacked her and touched her things. That girl would need to pay.

Klaus could see the gears spinning inside of his sister's head, but he would need to put a stop to it. "Why don't we go back to your room, huh, sister? I'll make you up a hot pot of tea and you can relax. We'll even play a Coolio CD. They're your favorite, right?"

Rebekah's eyes glazed over and she nodded absentmindedly. "Yes," she said, her blue eyes gazing into space.

...

Klaus brought his sister to her room, covered her up, shut her curtains, and played a Mozart track. _Mozart had been so great live,_ he thought.

When he arrived back at the main house, Caroline was there waiting for him, her hands on her hips. She looked upset. In a way, she had a right to be. If _he_ were in _her _position, he wouldn't know what he would do.

Her world was falling apart; at the same time, she was being introduced to a new one—one that was beyond her wildest imagination. All she was being told were lies piled upon lies. And she had no idea what to do.

But Klaus pushed the thought away. But he wasn't in her place. He was stronger and more powerful; he had all the advantages and he wouldn't let those go to waste.

Klaus tore himself from his train of thought and signaled Caroline to speak. He wouldn't threaten her—this time.

"All I want to know is whether or not my friends are alive. That's it," Caroline finished after he didn't answer for a second.

She stood strong, tall, and confident in the face of fear—Klaus admired that about her.

He let out a deep sigh and answered her question. "I don't know."

She gave him a frustrated look and huffed in exasperation. "What do you mean: 'I don't know'? Either they're alive or they're dead."

Klaus spoke, his voice gentle. "That's what Elijah and Kol are doing right now. They're looking for them."

Caroline's voice broke. "And they're going to kill them." She wasn't asking, she was sure. Elijah and Kol were out searching for her friends, wherever they may be. And there was nothing she could do about it.

Strangely, Klaus felt like he had to make her feel better. Trying to comfort her, he said, "We wouldn't be so inclined to kill them if there wasn't a good reason, love. Think about that the next time you think of Tyler."

Caroline gasped, angry beyond compare. How dare he try to act like the good guy when he and his family had massacred _innocent _people?! How dare he compel her to think thoughts that weren't hers?

Caroline stomped off to her room, this time for good. She wouldn't speak to Klaus unless she got some answers.

...

As Caroline took a walk through the woods, she felt as if someone was watching her.

It was dark and stormy out- no sunlight in sight.

As hard as she listened, she couldn't hear anyone. She must have been hallucinating.

She appreciated the beauty of nature in that instant. The trees were glowing red and gold even in the dim light. A trickle of sunlight slipped through the uppermost branches of the trees, causing the tiny creeks to sparkle and dance beneath the sky.

She arrived back at her room to feel that all of her anger had disappeared. Well, not all of it, but it had subsided for the time being.

The lights were off when she went inside, which Caroline found odd, but she shrugged the feeling off of her shoulders and stepped inside, flicking on the light switch.

The split second she did, two hands grabbed her neck, throwing her to the ground with not much force, but enough to leave her feeling dazed.

"What the..." she whispered quickly, rubbing the back of her head, before looking up and seeing Lucinda standing in front of her. In her hand was a wooden stake.

Caroline, suddenly realizing what was happening, staggered back to the window with lightning speed, not daring to make a move.

No one had explained anything to her, but it soon became very clear to Caroline that wooden stakes could—and would—kill her in an instant.

"Lucinda, what are you doing?" Caroline felt so betrayed.

Lucinda's expression was blank and evil. She started to mutter some sort of incantation.

_What the hell—_

But Caroline couldn't finish her thought. Really. She physically couldn't.

A sharp pain erupted in her head; almost as if it was coming straight from her brain. She gasped in pain, crumpling to the floor, putting fingers to her temples, desperate to make it stop.

"Please," she begged, her voice hoarse. "Stop..."

In a flash, Lucinda was on the ground, her neck bent at an odd angle and her eyes hollow and dead.

Caroline looked up in terror to see Klaus' insane sister—Rebekah—standing over the woman's dead body.

"Nice to see you again, Caroline."

* * *

**So... Lucinda is a witch? And she wanted to kill Caroline? And Rebekrazy freaking Mikaelson saved her?  
****What the ding dangety dong is going on here!? (I swear I don't actually talk like that). **

**ALso check out one of my fan's (WeasleysGroupie) coverart ! it's seriously amazzzzing. **

(**just put the link below back together and add in '.' ) **

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**com/ **

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	8. Blood Promise

**Sorry for the late update! I had finished it on Thursday and I was about to post it but life got in the way :p**

* * *

_Day 14_

* * *

Klaus walked into Caroline's room to apologize. If they were going to live under the same roof, he might as well be friendly to her and not quarrel with her. He felt just an inkling of sympathy for the girl.

He bit his lip and held his hand up to knock on the door when he heard a sickening crack and the sound of Rebekah's voice.

_No._

_Could Rebekah _not _screw up something for one second? That fucking idiot's killed Caroline!_

Klaus burst into the room, his heart beating fast. But what he walked in to see wasn't at all what he expected.

Caroline lay cowering on the floor, looking as if she was in pain. Rebekah stood tall and proud above Lucinda's dead body.

"What the hell have you done?" Klaus growled at his sister. Lucinda had been working somewhat undercover as his 'personal witch' at the manor. And now she was dead. And he would have to find a new one. Witches weren't exactly scarce in Mystic Falls, but finding one who would be willing to work for him... well, that would be the challenge.

_Maybe I'll resort to compulsion, _he thought.

Bekah shrugged, as if killing someone was no big deal.

She put her hands up in surrender as she said, "Nik, she was about to kill your little hostage over there. She was going apeshit and muttering some spell. _I _stepped in to save the day."

Klaus flashed his sister a suspicious glance before glancing at Caroline. Even though she put up a strong, stubborn exterior, she looked more terrified than he had ever seen her before. It made sense, putting into consideration that she probably didn't know that witches existed. Or werewolves, for that matter. God, he would need to explain a lot of things to her.

"Give us a minute, won't you?" Klaus told Rebekah, who threw her hands up in frustration and let out an annoyed huff, but left nonetheless.

Klaus strode over to where Caroline sat, kneeling down to her level before outstretching a hand and asking, "Are you alright?"

Caroline cleared her throat, grasped his hand, and let him pull her up to standing.

She shrugged. "I guess I haven't really gotten a hang of the whole vampire thing yet."

"Alright. Tell me exactly what happened." He sounded more worried than angry. Caroline instantly felt more relaxed.

Caroline took a deep breath and began. "Basically, I walked into my room and she attacked me and came at me with that stake. She pushed me to the ground, and then your sister walked in and snapped her neck."

Klaus sighed and bit his lip. "I guess you'll want to know exactly what she is and what happened." He motioned to the bed as if he wanted her to sit down. She did as he wished and listened intently to what he had to say.

"Lucinda is—well, now 'was'—one of my witches." He held his hands up. "And before you say anything, yes, those are real. She's been loyal to me and my family for over 30 years, which leads me to believe that she was compelled by someone to hurt you."

Klaus trailed off, lost in his own trail of thought, but Caroline urged him forward.

_Why would anyone have a reason to kill me? _Caroline thought worriedly. _Unless Klaus had done it himself... _

"And if she wasn't? Why did she attack me when her and Elijah have been the only ones who have been kind to me in this place?" Caroline asked impatiently, nearly falling off the edge of her bed.

Klaus stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes narrowing and focusing in on her. His voice was cold when he spoke. Caroline instantly regretted what she had said and wished she could take it back. She had clearly struck a chord.

"'The only ones who have been nice to you'? I've not only saved your life, I've spared it, despite what _all _of my siblings have advised me. So forgive me if I see a flaw in your logic."

Caroline gulped slowly, realizing what he had just said. 'All of his siblings'. That included Elijah, didn't it? And she had thought he was the only one on her side. _God. _Why did everyone have to betray her?

She refused to show Klaus that she cared. "I'm sorry."

She apologized quietly, trying and failing to look at him.

As Klaus watched the girl before him, a cold wave of regret washing over his body. Why did he have to be so terrible to her all the time? Now that he really thought about it, she had no reason to be kind to him, just as he had no real reason to be mean to her. And it was sad to think that she couldn't trust anyone. Much like him, she had no one.

He sat down beside her, and unlike other times, she didn't flinch in fear or inch away from him in disgust. She sat there beside him, not moving a muscle.

"What I wanted to say is: despite what you may think of me and all the things I've done, I'm here to protect you. In a way, Caroline, we both need each other. You're the key to my success. You're the opportunity that I've been waiting for. And in exchange, I spared your life... and I will continue to protect you, whatever the cost. If someone _is _after you, I won't let them hurt you. You have my word."

His words echoed in her head. '_You're the key my success. You're the opportunity I've been waiting for. We both need each other'. _She had never felt needed or wanted before. It was clear to her that the Wolves had never cared. Tyler had never cared.

Caroline marveled at how much one person could change when they didn't have to worry about keeping up appearances. He didn't hate her; he wasn't going to kill her; he was going to protect her.

She sighed, realizing that she would have to reply at some point.

"If you truly mean what you say, then I promise you that I will help you with whatever you're trying to achieve. Even if it's hard for me to say it, I guess by now I've realized that as much as you may not want people to realize it, you have a good reason for doing the things you do. Whatever you're trying to accomplish has to be for a good reason. If you had to kill the Lockwoods in such a... violent way, then I'm guessing they deserved it. Mrs. Lockwood was a bitch!" Caroline chuckled to herself. "I know that if I had any family left, and anyone ever hurt them, I would probably do the same." She paused to look at him, and saw a surprised look on his face.

"How did you know it was about family?" he asked quietly.

"They're obviously important to you," Caroline concluded. _I wish I had family I could count on. Or someone. Anyone. _

Klaus said nothing, quite dumbfounded by her.

"If I get to live," she continued, "...and that means staying here and helping you, I'll do it."

Klaus' eyebrows raised in surprise. She was agreeing to this much more quickly and easily than he had expected. "Let's make a deal, shall we?"

Caroline shut her eyes quickly, not knowing what the hell she was getting herself into.

"On one condition," she offered. "If I do help you with whatever you've been after, after this is all over, I get to leave alive. I don't ever have to see you again. I can go on, live my life..." she trailed off as she wondered if that would even be possible.

Would her friends even be alive at that point? Would killing all of them be apart of the deal? She couldn't think about that at the moment. All she could think about at that moment was her survival. She couldn't give up her life for people who couldn't be bothered to do the same thing for her. Especially not Tyler.

Klaus pursed his lips and nodded. "Seems fair," he concluded.

"But one last thing," he said, not giving her a chance to change her mind and back out.

Caroline nodded. She was listening.

"Or rather, two. One: You must agree to train with me so that a) you can learn to handle yourself, and b) to protect yourself when I'm not around."

Caroline somewhat dreaded any more alone time with Klaus than she already had to.

"And two?" she asked, urging him to keep on speaking.

He chuckled to himself, liking that she was almost eager for this. "Just to ensure that neither one of us breaks our word, we'll have to take a special type of oath that dates back to when I was born."

"I'm listening," Caroline replied, her curiosity piqued.

Klaus continued on, knowing he was treading on thin ice. "It's something I call a Blood Oath. You slice your hand, I slice mine. We join hands and chant our agreement."

Caroline scoffed in disbelief. "Um, I'm pretty sure we'd both get HIV, or some other blood related disease..."

Klaus chuckled dryly. "The Dead don't get diseases, love."

Even though Caroline wasn't so sure, she shrugged and decided that she would believe him.

"Is this some sort of witchy spell that could get me in trouble later?" Caroline asked, taking a sneak peak and Lucinda's body.

"Only if you break it," Klaus warned, his features darkening.

_Well, that didn't scare the shit out of me, _Caroline thought sarcastically, forcing her hands to stop shaking. "So let's say I agree to this and we do perform this ritual. What happens if one of us breaks the promise?"

Klaus' face was blank and stony. "Death," he said solemnly.

Caroline's eyes widened. "That's, uh..." she gulped. She looked away from Klaus for a second, not knowing what to say or think. It wasn't a game anymore. But had it ever really been one?

She shook herself out of the trance she had fallen into and replied before she could change her mind. "I agree."

Klaus, giving Caroline one, last, long, lingering look, whipped a knife out from his belt and sliced his palm, wincing the slightest bit.

He handed the Caroline the knife a second later, who was watching the blood running from his hand with curiosity.

She took the weapon warily, slowly dragging it across the surface of her skin.

"Now the other one," Klaus commanded.

She did the same thing to her right hand, sucking in a breath. _God. That hurt like hell._

Klaus sliced open his other palm as well, and then held out both of his hands for her to grasp.

Caroline exhaled, not really knowing what she was getting herself into.

She looked at him and let him grasp her hands in his, staring him straight in his blue-green eyes.

Klaus closed his eyes, and Caroline followed suit. He squeezed her hands tighter, starting to speak.

"I will protect you at all costs. In return you will help me achieve my goals. You will also agree to do safety training with me to ensure your safety."

Caroline wasn't happy about that part, but she nodded her head. "I agree. But in return, after this is all over, I'll be set free. Alive. I can go on and live my life. I will never see you again. Agreed?"

Klaus blinked. Caroline took that as a yes.

As if an electric current had passed through them, both Klaus and Caroline jolted forward and caught their breath. It felt as if the wind had been knocked out of them.

They both caught each other's eye then, and Klaus spoke, his gaze not leaving hers. "I think it's done."

They gazed at each other for another few lingering seconds, still holding hands.

Caroline dropped her hands from his quickly, and wiped them on the side of her jeans. It was hot. That was why she felt all clammy and hot. What other reason could there be?

She stood up and left the room, not knowing quite else to say.

Rebkah was still patiently waiting outside the door, having heard everything the two had said.

"Let the games begin," she said with an evil smile.

* * *

**Love the Klaroline? Hate it? Suggestions? Comments?**

**Who could be after Caroline? What does this oath mean for the two of them? Why did Bekah save her...?**

**Review :)**


	9. The Bennett Witch

**Who do you think the witch will be? Leave your ideas below!**

* * *

_Day 16_

* * *

Rebekah _had _saved Caroline, but she had also killed Lucinda- Klaus' only witch- his secret weapon.

Klaus had sent one of his hybrids to scout for witches throughout the town, and to bring back a few so Klaus could 'interview them'.

What that really meant was see if they would be useful to him—and if not, they would be disposed of.

The scout should have been back hours ago. Not that Klaus cared about whether he lived or not, but he was worried. Klaus needed a witch badly. And he needed one soon.

This witch would need to protect not only him and his family, but now Caroline. Someone was after her—for god knows why—and he couldn't let them hurt her. She was the key to his success.

Speaking of Caroline, he would also need to make her a daylight ring. ..._And_ explain everything to her. _So much to do, so little time, _he thought. Luckily, the girl hadn't been outside in the past 16 days, but he couldn't keep her locked up for much longer. She would start to get angry. _And boy, was she a feisty one, _Klaus thought, a smile sprouting on his lips.

The hybrid he had sent to fetch the witches burst in through the door, a triumphant yet exhausted look settling on his features.

Klaus held his hands up in frustration and rolled his eyes. "What the hell took you so long?" he asked impatiently.

The hybrid, whose name was Jake, flashed his sire a toothy grin. He dragged three women through the door and into the mudroom.

Klaus wasn't happy. He was overjoyed. Powerful witches were standing in his house. Not one. But _three. _A small grin spread on his face.

He gave a slight nod to Jake, who promptly left the room.

Three women stood in front of him, chained to each other by their hands.

The one to the very left was young, but not too young. She wasn't a child, he knew that much. She had cocoa-colored skin, and shoulder-length, black, wavy hair. Her eyes were an endless sort of black, which, honestly, scared Klaus. She looked pissed as hell. A long, bloody cut dragged across her cheek. The work of Jake, no doubt. Klaus was pleased with his hybrid's work, to say the least.

The girl chained next to the first was the same height as her prior. She had light brown hair fashioned in waves, olive green eyes, and caramel skin. The same look resided in her eyes.

The two girls looked alike, Klaus noticed. Could they be related, perhaps?

Klaus brushed the thought away and turned to the third girl. Pale; limp, brown hair; filled with fear. He could smell it.

He raced up to her, not allowing her to say a word, and snapped her neck. _Crack!_ She dropped to the floor like a fly, dragging the other girls with her.

Anyone so weak couldn't handle working for him. He had no use for her, and he guessed Mystic Falls didn't either.

The two gasped in surprise, looking at each other, finally realizing what deep shit they were in.

"Why did you bring us here?" the first one asked, fire burning in her endless eyes.

Klaus paced back and forth in front of the girls. "What is your name?" he asked simply, as if he hadn't just killed someone.

The first one spoke more defiantly this time, not standing down. "_Why_ did you bring us here?" she asked for the second time, testing Klaus' patience.

He was done with her not answering his questions. He flashed to where she was sitting on the floor, grasping her throat. "I wasn't asking. Tell me your name."

The second girl looked over worriedly, a sort of insistence ingrained in her voice. "Tell him, Emily."

Klaus drew back from his captive suddenly, mimicking mock-surprise. "Emily, is it?" he asked, staring down those black eyes of hers. "I'll tell you why you're here," he continued, his voice mocking and sinister.

"You were brought here to see if you could pass the test," he told her, his voice growing low and deadly.

The witch's eyes widened in fear. She knew what was in store for her.

"Unfortunately," Klaus said, his eyes narrowing, "You failed."

In that instant, he raced forward, grabbing the witch by the neck and twisting, just as he had done with the other one.

The remaining girl cried out in terror, screaming, "NO!"

As the witch's body slumped to the floor, the girl's green eyes flashed in anger. Tears poured down her face as she leaned over the witch's lifeless body.

"Why are you doing this?" the girl screamed, throwing her chained hands up in the air in rage. "Why bring us here only to kill us?"

Klaus spoke. "It's the opposite, you see. You've passed the test. _You're _the one who gets to live."

"And do what?" she asked, glancing down at the dead body of her friend. "End up like her? Work as your slave?"

"You'll work for me, yes. Not as a slave. As an..." he put a finger to his lips as he thought about how to phrase it. "...An ally."

The girl gritted her teeth, struggling to contain herself. "I will never work for you," she told him, spitting on the ground in front of him.

At the moment, Klaus wanted to wring the girl's neck, but he kept calm. He needed this girl, no matter how disgusting she was.

"Oh, but I think you will," he told her. "You see, I can threaten you all I want. But I can hurt you in other ways, too."

He could see that the comment had resonated with the girl, but she skillfully ignored it. "Threaten me, kill me, for all I care. You killed my _cousin, _and for that, you'll pay."

So they _were _related. He was never wrong about these things. He knew family when he saw one.

"I could care less about your cousin." The words dripped out of his mouth like poison.

The girl attempted to lunge forward at him, but she was weighed down by the chains and the bodies attached to them.

"Oh, I think you will," the girl said. "In less than a minute, all of Emily's powers will be transferred to me. See, in our family bloodline, we're all that's left. The power of every single witch of the Bennett bloodline will be transferred into me just as it had been to Emily. You will be powerless against me," she spat.

Did she just say the _Bennett _bloodline? They were one of the most powerful families of witches ever known.

"And why would you tell me this when I could kill you right now?" Klaus countered.

"Because once the powers are transferred, I'll have enough magic and power to break free from these chains. They may block my magic now, but they won't for long. And once they do break, I will make you die a _thousand _terrible deaths."

Klaus was in a state of panic, when suddenly, he realized...

_Bennett. Of course._

"What would Grams think?" he asked, a coy smile playing on his lips.

"...What did you say?" she asked, her voice breaking.

He had her now.

"Grams, of course! Don't think I don't know who your grandmother is. It would be such a shame if... something were to happen to her."

The girl shook her head. "Fine, I'll do it! I'll work for you! I'll do _whatever _you ask, just as long as you don't hurt her."

Klaus said nothing. He would need to make sure he had her loyalty.

"Please," she begged, desperation flooding her eyes and consuming her soul.

He threw his hands up in the air. "Ah, what the hell! I agree. I don't kill you, in exchange, you work for me. You do my every bidding. Deal?"

The girl took a deep breath. "Deal."

"Now, sweetheart—" he started to say, just before a flash of light flew into the girl, sending her rocketing backward into the wall.

She gasped as if the wind had been knocked out of her, looking up at Klaus expectantly. Power radiated off of her, like waves of electricity buzzing in the air. So, the transference was complete.

She sat there, frozen.

"As I was saying, before you so _rudely _interrupted me," Klaus said, chuckling to himself. "What's your name?"

The girl stood off, the chains sliding off her wrists like drops of water.

"Bonnie," she told him. "Bonnie Bennett."

...

The first order of business was to construct a daylight ring for Caroline. But rings were so cliché nowadays, Klaus thought.

After burying two dead witches in his backyard, he swiftly rummaged through his mother's jewelry box. A little fox pendant hung from a silver chain. _Cunning, intelligent, graceful, beautiful... _It would be perfect.

He handed the necklace to Bonnie, allowing her to examine it closely before letting her ask any questions.

Turning it over in her hand, she said, "What do you want me to do?"

Klaus motioned to the necklace. "I need a daylight amulet. I need you to do it."

"For who?" Bonnie asked curiously, not glancing up from the swinging pendant.

Klaus glowered at her. "Just do as I say. No questions asked would be nice."

Bonnie glared right back at him. "Fine."

She set the necklace down on the table and glanced at it, closing her eyes and concentrating. Holding a single hand above the table, she muttered, "_A nocte in diem, tueri immortuorum_."

She took her hand away and opened her eyes, handing the necklace over to Klaus.

"If you tried anything..." he warned her, her face but an inch from hers. He held a finger to his throat, slicing it across the surface and make a slashing sound.

Bonnie scowled. She knew exactly what he was trying to say.

He took the chain in his palm, leaving Bonnie alone in the room and marching off to find Caroline.

...

Klaus found her in her room, sitting on the edge of her bed, staring out onto the sea below. She looked sad, he thought.

Even though the door was already ajar, he knocked nonetheless. A gentleman always knocks before entering.

She turned towards him, surprised that it was him.

_Who else _would _it be? _She asked herself.

Her eyes drifted to the object in his hand.

"What's that?" she asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. She turned around completely to face him.

Klaus laughed at this. "No worries, love. It's only a gift."

Caroline scoffed. _What kind of trick was this?_

Klaus stiffened, his face morphing. Caroline would have thought that it was pain if she didn't know him better.

The smile disappeared. "It's for your own protection."

She stood up now, wondering what the hell he was talking about. "And how, exactly, can a _necklace _protect me?"

Klaus sighed, his features relaxing. "Have you noticed how you haven't been in direct sunlight since you've arrived?"

Caroline thought about it. Had she really gone 16 days without sun? She had tanned this summer for nothing!

Klaus continued. "That's because the sun burns vampires. It kills them, to be exact. This necklace protects you." Holding his hand in front of him, admiring it, almost like a newly engaged woman, he showed her his ring. "That's why I wear this."

"Thank you," Caroline whispered, wishing she hadn't been so harsh just then.

They stared at each other for a brief moment before Caroline took a step forward and asked, "Well, can you put it on me?"

Klaus sighed. _Fine. _

She turned around, her back facing him. Taking a hand and brushing her golden waves to the front, Caroline revealed the nape of her neck.

Klaus swung the necklace around Caroline's front, reuniting the clasps in the back. As he did so, his fingertip brushed along her collarbone, causing her breath to hitch.

_He's too close, _Caroline thought, frozen as she stood there.

As soon as she heard the sound of the 'click' of the clasps, Caroline stepped away from Klaus.

She turned to face him, only meeting his eyes briefly. "Thank you."

He said nothing and didn't move.

"You can leave now," she prodded.

He stood there for another second, almost begging her to look at him.

Something had just happened there. And she refused to acknowledge it.

And with that, Klaus stormed off.

_What the hell is happening to me? _Caroline wondered, admiring the necklace he Klaus given her absentmindedly, spinning it around with her fingers.

...

It was the middle of the day. Caroline still had time to venture outside. With a quick glance outside her window, she could see that it was a bright and sunny day. Fall was supposed to be nowhere near over, but winter was just around the corner. Caroline could sense it. She could feel the shift in the air.

She strode downstairs in black jeans and a white hoodie Lucinda had picked out for her.

Caroline was prepared to walk outside, when suddenly, she smelled it.

Blood.

It was coming from somewhere in the mudroom, but she didn't know where.

And then she saw it.

There were tiny splatters of it on the floor. Not enough to kill, but enough to know that something had happened.

The room smelled of death.

_What the hell has Klaus done this time?_

Speak of the devil. Klaus strode into the room, surprised to see Caroline standing there. He noticed the strange look on her face and put the puzzle pieces together.

Before he had a chance to speak, Caroline blurted out, "What did you _do_?" her voice was full of disgust.

A little string pulled on his heart. He thought her opinion of him had bettered over the last couple of days. Apparently not.

"Don't worry, Caroline, I didn't slaughter anyone."

She took a step closer to him, occasionally glancing at the blood on the tile.

"But you killed people. I know it."

He sighed in annoyance. "Fine. I brought in three witches, and only one came out alive."

Caroline's fists balled up in anger. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she screamed, throwing her hands up in the air. "These were innocent people. What did they do to you? Wear the wrong shoes around you?"

"They defied me! Just like _you _do all the time!" Klaus roared, his anger flaring up. "But I don't kill you, do I?"

"The only reason I'm alive is because of some stupid oath. Don't go and hail yourself a saint, Klaus."

_God, this girl is infuriating. One moment she seems not to hate me—tolerate me, almost—and the next, it's back to hating me. What did I do this time? _Klaus thought.

"What—you think I would have killed someone I've grown to know? You think killing is _easy, _Caroline? Even after having lived centuries, the faces of the people you've killed don't go away. They don't just disappear. So no, you're alive because I want you to be."

Caroline hadn't thought about this. Even before the blood oath, he had plenty of chances to kill her. And he had gotten to know her. He had spoken to her. He knew things about her. How hard would it be to kill someone when you know their name? When you know they have friends; family...

"Is that really true?" she asked him; her curiosity was spiked.

"Do you think I would say it if it wasn't?" he countered.

Caroline sighed, wanting to ignore his comment. "Where's the third witch?" she asked, crossing her arms in frustration.

"Right here."

Caroline turned around and gasped when she saw who it was.

* * *

**How do you think both Bonnie and Caroline will react when they see each other? Do they know each other or not? Do they have a history or are they strangers? **

**What's happening between Klaus and Caroline...?**

**Just for fun, can anyone guess who the pale witch was? (A hint: she's from the Originals...)**


	10. Burn for Burn

**Sorry for not posting in forever! I've had family visiting and with Thanksgiving and all that... anyways, thanks for waiting :)**

**SOrry for any typos, I was in a rush to post this! I'll fix typos later :)**

* * *

Stefan, Matt and Tyler all embraced the warm sun—even though it was practically winter and they were outside under strange circumstances.

Matt stretched his hands over his head while Tyler and Stefan both hopped into the car that Damon had recently stolen.

They were headed to the library, strange as it may have seemed. Hopefully there, they could find any information on the whereabouts of the Mikaelson family—which would hopefully lead them to Hayley and Caroline.

One ex boyfriend, one (current?) boyfriend, and one best friend were all hopelessly searching for Caroline. Only one of them had Hayley on his mind.

They reached the library in no time; Mystic Falls was a small town, after all.

It was a large brick building with a clock tower looming over top; it's white face peering down to the people below, silently watching their every move.

The three men stepped inside the library, pushing open it's heavy wooden doors with a shove.

A slightly frazzled old woman with peppered hair stepped out from behind a bookshelf and greeted them with a warm smile.

"Stefan Salvatore, is that you?" she asked, slowly waddling over in a tweed pencil skirt, a matching jacket, and a light pink sweater.

Stefan smiled and said, "Ms. Bennett. Nice to see you."

When he was younger, Stefan had spent hours at the library, skimming through books while Damon was out riding his motorcycle and dating pretty girls.

Ms. Bennett clasped her hands together, glancing at the other two who were accompanying him.

"What can I help you boys with today?" she asked.

"Where's Bonnie?" Matt said suddenly, then looking at the confused faces around him and backtracking. He shrugged. "What? I haven't seen her since high school. And she works here."

They were all still staring.

"We went to prom together? We're friends?" he concluded, putting his hands in his pockets.

Ms. Bennett's face grew dark. "Bonnie isn't here," she said firmly. The lights in the library quickly flickered on and off.

Matt sensed the unease in her voice. "Do you know where I could find her?" he followed.

Ms. Bennett's eyes flared in anger, but quickly simmered down as if someone had poured water over an open flame.

"She's gone."

This surprised all of them.

"What do you mean, 'she's gone'?" Stefan asked, suspicion arising in his voice.

Ms. Bennett's voice lowered as she spoke. She looked around her to see if anyone was listening.

"Come with me," she said, beckoning them to a small room.

A fire was instantaneously lit as they entered.

"How—" Tyler started, but Ms. Bennett silenced him with a single look.

"Yesterday, a man—a strange man, one I had never seen before—came waltzing in here, pretending to search for a book. But he was obviously after something else."

"Bonnie," Matt muttered, a wave of realization washing over him.

"His beady little eyes kept on glancing over at her," she continued. "I thought he was just a secret admirer, but when he followed her outside, I knew something was wrong."

"What happened?" Tyler asked, intrigued in her tale.

"When I went outside to call her in for lunch, she was gone. And so was he."

Matt spoke up. "That doesn't mean he took her, does it?"

Tyler's eyes widened. He dragged a hand over his face as he spoke. "If Bonnie's really gone, then think I know who's behind it. And I think I know why."

Ms. Bennett prodded him on. "Well, speak, boy! Don't stop now!"

Once Tyler started talking, he couldn't stop. "Klaus Mikaelson. If he's so intent on destroying the Wolves, he'll do anything to lure us into a trap. To draw us out of hiding. Like taking one of our friends, for example."

It was all crazy. But it made sense.

Matt's mouth formed into a grim line.

"But that means that he doesn't already have things to motivate us with," said Stefan. "Meaning Caroline and Hayley are dead."

A sickly silenced hung over their heads like the fog in San Francisco in the summertime.

"There _has_ to be another reason he took her," Stefan continued. "If it is, after all, Klaus' doing," he concluded softly.

"Tyler's right, Stefan. This can't be a coincidence. It has to be Klaus," Matt added on.

Stefan sighed and bit his lip pensively. He turned to face Ms. Bennett. She was Bonnie's grandmother—one of her only living relatives and her legal guardian—she had to know something they didn't.

"Is there any other reason that Klaus—I assume you know of him?" Stefan asked, glancing at the elderly woman.

She nodded gravely.

"...Would take Bonnie?" he finished, casting her a suspicious glance.

Ms. Bennett (otherwise know as Grams) lowered her eyes to the floor.

"If you know something, then you need to tell us," Matt said, finally joining the conversation.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Grams said, a small grimace appearing on her wrinkled face.

"Try me," Stefan said, daring her to tell them.

Grams stood up, suddenly and unexpectedly; the boys almost expected her brittle bones to clatter to the floor.

"Can normal people do this?" she asked, her voice rising.

Before they had a chance to ask 'do what?' Grams thrust her hands forward. In the same moment, the two picture windows behind the group flew open with a clang.

The men were all in shock. Tyler managed to stutter out: "That was just a coincidence..." but it didn't even sound like he believed himself. They were all staring at the old woman in awe.

"Or this?" she asked, lifting a single bony, frail hand in the air.

As she lifted her hand, Tyler began to levitate off the floor, not believing his eyes.

"What the hell?" he yelled, looking at Grams with a mix of terror and wonder.

"What _are_ you?" Matt yelled, his eyes narrowed and gaze directed at Grams. The sound of leaves whooshing through the room nearly drowned out his booming voice.

Instantaneously, the noise stopped. Tyler fell to the floor, clutching his back as he sat up.

Gram's voice was like the sound of a whip cracking in the deadly silence.

"I am a witch. The entire Bennett family was composed of witches. And that is why Klaus Mikaelson took my granddaughter."

...

They didn't want to believe her. But they had no other choice. There was no other explanation. What she had just done had proven to them that she was, in fact, a witch.

A million questions were swirling in each of their minds.

_How? What can you do? Does Bonnie know?_

But Stefan was the first to say anything.

"What would Klaus Mikaelson need with a... witch?" he asked—as if his curiosity hadn't been piqued before...

"My guess is that he needs to protect someone. Witches have power that even Klaus and his siblings don't have access to."

"What kind of power _do _they have?" Matt asked, still in denial of this whole witch ordeal.

Grams chuckled. "You three have no idea what you're up against. Klaus and his family- well, they're not exactly human."

"Are they witches? Or... uh..." Tyler hesitated. This was all still new to him. "...Wizards? Are they like you?"

Grams' laughter filled the room. It was sick and gave Tyler the impression that he wouldn't like what she was about to say.

"You'll find out in due time."

Ignoring Grams' annoyingly vague answer, Stefan spoke up, determined to keep her talking.

"But who would he be protecting? If his family is all-powerful, then why would they need protection? It has to be someone else."

"I might have an idea who..." Grams answered, her voice trailing off towards the end.

"Who?" Tyler blurted out; he couldn't keep his excitement contained any longer.

"I ran into a friend of mine—a witch who works for Mikaelson—a while ago, who was picking out clothes that looked like they were more suited for someone your age. Anyways, when I asked who they were for, she said that it was for a girl. When I asked about this girl, she said the girl was blond..." But a strange woman interrupted us before she could say anything more."

All three of the men smiled gleefully.

"Caroline," Tyler said to himself. After snapping himself out of his trance, he asked Grams: "Was there mention of another girl? Brown hair; feisty?"

They all knew whom he was referring to. Hayley.

Grams shook her head. "That was all she told me, dearie. I'm sorry."

Tyler's smiled turned into one of false hope. "I'm sure she hadn't seen Hayley yet. I'm sure she's fine."

The others looked away. Somewhere deep down, they knew that she wasn't okay.

But Caroline was alive.

_And obviously as much of a fashion diva as she had been... _Stefan thought with a smile.

At least she was a few days ago. They had hope. The only thing else they needed was where.

All three glanced at each other, smiles sprouting on their unshaven faces.

"Do you happen to know _where _this woman lives?" Matt asked.

"It's a large mansion, a few miles down the road from the Falls, on a cliff near the ocean."

Well, that was easy.

"It's heavily guarded, but if Bonnie's in there..."

Or not.

"Or Caroline..." Stefan added, earning a glare from Tyler.

_What a jealous son of a bitch, _Stefan thought with a scowl.

"Then it's worth it," Matt concluded with a confident and victorious smile.

...

A little while later, Matt, Tyler, and Stefan found themselves in the basement of the library, otherwise known as the Mystic Falls archives.

They had been searching for anything about a fire with no luck for about an hour when all of a sudden Tyler shouted, "I found something!"

Stefan and Matt both raced over to where he was, and found him holding a file in his hands, slowly leafing through it, his eyes focused and intent.

"Look at this," he said, with a wave of his hand, beckoning them closer. Quoting from the text he was reading, he spoke. "December 17th, 2001. An unstoppable fire broke out at the Mikaelson manor, leaving no known survivors. Esther, Mikael—would you look at that? Mikael Mikaelson."

Tyler chuckled to himself before continuing on, earning a roll-of-the-eyes from his companions.

"Esther, Mikael, Finn, Henrik, Rebekah, Kol, Elijah, and Klaus Mikaelson were all reportedly killed in said fire, but only the bodies of the first four were found. The others were never discovered."

"If they survived a fire, then they can survive anything," Matt said.

"Ms. Bennett _did _say they weren't human..." Stefan offered.

"'It appears that this fire was no accident," Tyler continued, ignoring their remarks, his eyes devouring the page. "'A large cigar was found on the property with a note attached to it, reading: _Burn for Burn._ The cigar is pictured below.'"

As Tyler's eyes gravitated below to search for the picture, they widened in terror.

"Oh, my god," he said, inexplicably frozen.

"What?" Matt asked, clawing at the paper, trying to get a closer look.

"Those are my dad's cigars," he said, his expression blank and eyes empty.

"Anyone could have bought those," Stefan assured him. "It doesn't mean anything."

"It _would_ explain why they hate us so much," Matt offered.

Stefan couldn't help but agree, but he shot Matt a look nonetheless.

"But would my dad really kill to get what he wants? Whatever that is?" Tyler asked, almost to himself.

"Who knows? Klaus did," Matt said.

"Don't you dare compare my father to that bastard," Tyler snapped, taking a step closer to Matt and angrily pointing a finger at the article.

"That's not what he was saying," Stefan said, trying to calm Tyler down.

_God dammit, this is _not _what we need right now, _Stefan thought. _We need to stick together if we're going to find them. _

"Then what does 'burn for burn' mean? What did Klaus do to make my father commit such a crime?"

"I don't know," Stefan admitted. " Probably something awful. You can't expect anything less from a Mikaelson. But we need to go back. Damon and Elena were expecting us back at the warehouse a couple of hours ago. They're probably worried."

Matt nodded in agreement. "Stefan's right. We can always come back and find out more. We can worry about saving Caroline, Bonnie, and Hayley later. For right now, we need to worry about getting home alive."

Tyler nodded, still thinking. "Fine," he said begrudgingly, shaking Matt's hand off of his shoulders.

"To think that all this time, all we had to do was go to a damn library to get all the answers we were looking for," Stefan muttered.

...

The three walked outside, prepared to hop into their stolen car, when a smooth voice stopped them. Stefan and the others turned around to see a man in a black suit, wearing a tie, no less.

"Long time, no see, Wolves," he said.

* * *

**What did the Mikaelsons do to deserve such a fate?**

**Who is the man in the suit?**

**Are they close to finding the truth out about Caroline, Hayley, and Bonnie? Or will this sexy suited man be a setback? (hint hint: that's a clue if you haven't figured it out already ;))**

**Review, Review, Review!**


	11. Drawn like a Moth to a Flame

**Here's a new update! Sorry to those who thought there would be an immediate continuation of chapter ten!  
**

**Here you go :)**

* * *

_Day 16_

* * *

"Bonnie?"

Caroline was shocked. None of it made sense. They had gone to high school together, seen each other a few times... maybe they were lab partners for a day.

Things had changed so much since high school. Caroline was a vampire. Bonnie was a witch. Or had she always been one? _God..._

The two girls looked at each other in surprise.

_Caroline was always the popular stereotypical cheerleader-type blond, _Bonnie thought a tad bitterly. _What the hell was she doing getting mixed up with the Mikaelsons?_

"Caroline?" Bonnie asked, standing there, taking in the scene before her.

Klaus' lips curled into a smirk. "Ah, so you two know each other."

"Barely," Bonnie answered curtly.

_Ouch. Being my friend wasn't a bad thing, was it? _Caroline asked herself, a bit hurt.

Even though Bonnie saw the wounded expression on her face, she bit her lip and didn't take anything back.

Somewhat strangely, Klaus held his hands up in the air, pursed his lips, and said, "Well, then, I'll leave you two to it."

Caroline crossed her arms over her chest. "Actually, I was just about to step outside."

"And why's that?" Klaus asked, suspicion arising in him. She wasn't going to try and escape _again_, was she? Not after what happened last time...

_He's so... protective of her, _Bonnie thought. She brushed away whatever thoughts had suddenly popped into her mind and focused on the situation at hand.

"I was only going to test out my new daylight... thingy," she said, delicately tugging on the necklace with her fingers. She didn't know what to call it. Daylight token? Daylight necklace sounded stupid. And long. And not at _all _catchy.

"So you like it?" Klaus asked, a tiny amount of pride surging within him. She liked the gift he had given her. He clenched his fist and dug his fingernails into his palm; a quick reminder. He didn't care what she thought.

Caroline shrugged her shoulders limply. It was pretty. Beautiful, actually. Quite... thoughtful. _Ugh! What is _wrong _with me? _She thought, taking a breath. She needed to stop getting like... that. What was 'that', even? Sentimental? Yuck.

"As long as it keeps me from burning," she said, trying to sound as careless as she possibly could.

Klaus rolled his eyes. He waved his hand in dismissal and glared at Caroline. "Fine, go do whatever you please."

A slight flicker of something flashed across Caroline's face before it turned back to that defiant look that she constantly gave him.

"If you need me, I'm going outside."

Even though it was an obvious attempt to get some alone time, both Klaus and Bonnie followed Caroline to the doorframe, where she now stood. Shade from the porch directly overhead made it so that she had to walk at least ten feet to test the necklace.

"Whenever you're ready," Klaus taunted.

Caroline huffed in annoyance. She obviously was scared to step into the sun.

_Get a hold of yourself, Caroline, _she told herself, taking a deep breath. She peered out onto the unusually sunny day in front of her, beckoning her to take a few steps. Why would she be scared about this? Klaus had kept her alive this long. He had even told her that if he wanted her dead, she would be dead already. Well, not exactly that. More along the lines of: 'I want you alive.' Which would be nice, if it weren't for the strange circumstances.

She felt a bit self-conscious, with everyone watching her and all. Didn't Klaus have some people to be mean to? Didn't Bonnie have to go fetch eye of newt or something? She wished they weren't watching her failing at being brave. She had changed so much; become so much more courageous and independent than she had been as a human. She couldn't go back now.

And with that, Caroline flashed towards the porch, onto the grass... and under the sun.

She braced herself for extreme pain; her eyes squeezed shut and her face contorted, although she had eaten an _extra _sour lemon.

She heard a chuckle—barely one at that—something almost as quiet as breathing air. But she heard it. Klaus was laughing at her.

She whipped around, furious. "What?" she yelled, throwing her hands up in the air, frustrated. She had done it. She had conquered her fears. So what, it took her a little bit longer? He couldn't blame her for doubting a freaking necklace. Sunblock was supposed to protect you from getting burned, not a stupid piece of jewelry.

"Oh, nothing," Klaus said, still holding back laughter.

Caroline groaned in annoyance. It. Wasn't. Funny.

"Then why are you laughing?" she challenged.

Bonnie stood there, watching the whole exchange curiously. He was a murderer. He had killed her cousin. But this girl brought out a different side in him. It was certainly a strange thing to see. But that didn't mean she still didn't hate his _guts_.

"I'm not."

Caroline flashed him a stern look. He instantly fell silent.

"Well, I'd like to spend some time outside."

Both Bonnie and Klaus stayed put.

"Alone?" Caroline said, her voice higher and more annoyed than usual.

Bonnie walked inside. She got the hint. But Klaus didn't move a muscle.

"Actually, I'd like to train some today. Especially since Elijah is coming back soon," Klaus explained.

Caroline's ears perked up. That meant three things. One: Elijah is coming back! She would be safe! Which meant Kol would be back too... blech. Two: They captured the Wolves... or three: the Wolves are all dead.

"Elijah?" she said quietly.

Klaus nodded.

"And why would we need to do it before he gets back?" Caroline asked, her voice back to its normal volume.

"He'll be a distraction," was all Klaus said.

Caroline's eyes widened the slightest bit at his subtle hint. Was he accusing her of liking Elijah? Was he... jealous?

"How do you know he'll be back soon?" she wondered out loud.

Klaus took something out of his pocket and waved it in front of her.

_Very funny. A cellphone._

"We may be a thousand years old, but we do use technology, love. He called me to tell me that he'll be back in no time."

She blushed at the word 'love'. Did he call everyone that? Because goddamn, it was embarrassing.

Caroline bit her lip pensively. "Fine," she said begrudgingly. "I'll 'train' with you. Whatever _that _means."

"Let's get started," he said.

...

"What the hell is this?" Caroline asked, gulping nervously.

"Your training, of course," Klaus replied with a smile.

The two stood in a roomful of human servants who were all strangely calm. Had Klaus _really _compelled them all? Usually they would all cower in fear at the sound of his _name_.

"When you said 'training', I imagined more wrestling or something." The minute the words came out of her mouth, she realized how stupid she sounded.

"Only if that's what you want," he said, his eyes narrowing like a feline's; a smile playing on his lips.

Caroline coughed, surprised by what he had said. She ignored his suggestive comment.

The smile disappeared as he said, "But there will be fighting. There are three stages of the training I'll expose you to."

Caroline nodded, but doubtfully. If they were supposed to complete the training before Elijah got back, wouldn't they need much more time, considering there were three freaking 'stages'?

Not waiting for an answer, Klaus spoke. "But for now, it's self control. You're expected to be around humans in the real world. You need to learn to control the urge to feed. You're doing surprisingly well for a new vampire so far, but that's beside the point."

But Caroline had stopped listening.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked softly, staring blankly into space.

Klaus sensed something off in her voice. "I told you: there's someone after you, and you need to learn to protect yourself—"

But she cut him off right there. "You said the real world. I'm going to need to learn to be around humans in the _real world_. But we both know I'm never getting out of here alive."

Klaus was flabbergasted and struggled to find where all of this was coming from. "Caroline, we made a blood oath. Our deal was that you would help me and I would protect you and let you leave once the deed was done. The consequence of breaking my word is death! I wouldn't go back on my word, even if there was no stupid oath, alright?"

Caroline looked at him now, her eyes cold.

"We both know that's not what I mean."

Klaus pondered what she had said. He did realize that their agreement did mean anyone else besides him could kill her whenever they pleased.

"What?" Klaus said, frustrated. "You think I'm going to have you killed?"

He took a step closer to her, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"What will it take?" he asked. "What will it take for me to convince you that I'm _not _going to kill you?"

"I don't know," she retorted, her teeth gritted. "But when I do, you'll be the first to know."

Instead of rolling his eyes or sighing in frustration, Klaus felt sorry for Caroline. She was angry—angrier than anyone he had ever seen—yet she kept it bottled up inside. She couldn't let it out, not to anyone.

Was ruining one person's happiness just to achieve his really the right thing to do?

_There must be some other way I can make her happier, _he thought to himself.

"What do you want?" Klaus asked, somewhat out of the blue.

Caroline only gave him a confused look.

"Do you want better food? A nicer room? A better view? New clothes? What is—"

She cut him off. A few tears welled in her eyes and her voice cracked. "I want my life back. I want my friends. I want to go back to my stupid apartment and watch the freaking TV and... and come home to an empty refrigerator! I never asked for this! Don't you get it?"

Klaus was quite shocked by her words. He couldn't understand what she was going through, but he would try. He knew exactly what she needed. Maybe then she wouldn't... hate him so much.

"Sure, if I had been in that dining room but two minutes later, I might be on the run—or worse, I could be dead. But honestly, it would be better than this."

Her words stung like alcohol in a wound.

Anger flooded through him and he stepped even closer to her, his fists clenched. It was a natural reflex—he would never, ever hit a woman.

"I've given you everything you need!" he screamed, "I've spared you your life! Hell, I've given you eternal life! I've given you a roof over your head, a solid three meals every day—I've given you protection from someone who is trying to _kill _you! What more could you want?"

Caroline shut her eyes for an instant and let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in.

When she spoke, her tone was calm. "Freedom, Klaus. I want freedom."

He finally understood what she had been saying all along. Even though he knew she wasn't a prisoner, she didn't want to be kept under wraps like one. Even though travelling to the heart of Mystic Falls was too dangerous, he had decided on something.

"I can't give you what you mean," he said softly, knowing that she would be disappointed.

She nodded quickly, having already known that this was coming.

"But I can give you the freedom to roam the grounds. Go wherever you want, whenever you want. That doesn't include our training sessions, but..."

_I hope it'll make you happy,_ he thought.

Caroline's eyes sparkled and she gave him a grateful smile.

"Thank you," she told him.

Caroline suddenly noted that they had become close. Too close. _Dangerously_ close.

She stepped away from him, and he did the same, bowing his head the slightest bit.

"Well, why don't we start?" Caroline asked suddenly, waving her hand to the roomful of servants who were staring blankly at the walls.

Klaus shrugged. "We'll do that later. I quite fancy a cup of tea at the moment."

Even though it seemed like he was hiding something, Caroline let it go and decided to enjoy the moment.

"Sure," she said. "That sounds nice."

Klaus smiled and beckoned her out the door, pleased with himself.

...

After the two had poured themselves cups of tea, they sat in one of two living rooms together, relaxing in front of the warm fire in their red armchairs.

"I did it because I didn't want you to know," Klaus said suddenly, still looking at the flames licking up in the charred wood in the fireplace.

"Know what? What are you even talking about?" Caroline asked him, clutching her tea with two hands and holding it close to her face, letting the steam slowly soothe her into an almost-sleep.

Klaus turned to face her then, but he was holding something back. She could see it in his eyes. After a few seconds of complete and utter silence, in which the only thing they could hear was the sound of the leaves rustling in the trees outside, Klaus finally spoke his mind.

"I compelled you to think all of those things because I didn't want you to know that I cared whether you lived or died."

Caroline's mind went blank at that moment, not knowing what to think or say.

"I guess I just wanted you to know that," he said softly.

"Klaus, I..." Caroline didn't know how to respond. She didn't know whether to thank him for telling her, or scream at him for not telling her earlier. She chose option 'C': to stay silent.

"It's alright," he said, "You don't have to say anything. Just enjoy your tea while you can."

The two stared at each other for a few seconds—her into his blue-green eyes and he into her crystal-blues—and realized that something was happening. That every look they shared meant something.

* * *

*****IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT BELOW*****

**So... Bonnie and Caroline met!**

**Caroline stepped into the sun!**

**Elijah and Kol are coming back soon... or are they? Why would they be?**

**And hey... Klaroline moments :) Comments? QUestions? Compliments?**

*****I'M HOLDING A CHAPTER IDEA CONTEST! POST AS MANY AS YOU WANT IN THE REVIEW SECTION FOR A CHANCE TO GET YOUR CHAPTER IDEA FEATURED IN THIS FANFIC! NO RULES, OTHER THAN THAT IT HAS TO DO WITH THE PLOT, HAHA :) HAVE FUN AND GO AT IT! LOVE MY FANS 3 *****


	12. Through Hell and Back

**The biggest chapter so far!  
****Get excited :)**

* * *

_Day 18_

* * *

Caroline woke up to the sound of two squirrels fighting outside of her bedroom window. They chirped at each other, winding their way around the trunk of the tree erratically yet gracefully. They finally ran out of sight, and Caroline turned to the mirror hanging to the right of her.

Her own worried face looked back at her, much to her surprise.

She looked to her right, staring blankly at the hardwood paneling on the floor. Lucinda's death was still haunting her. But that wasn't what was scaring her the most. The fact that someone was after her didn't make any sense. What the hell had she done to deserve all of this?

It seemed like her nightmares were coming true. In that damn reoccurring dream, she was drowned in a wave of blood. Or someone would stab her with a knife.

Were her dreams just dreams? Because it seemed that they were all coming true. And _not _in the good way. She _had _died, just like in the nightmare. And the whole thing with the waves of blood? Ehem, vampire? That couldn't be a coincidence. Were they prophecies? Clues to her future? If so, what did the latest one mean?

It obviously had to do something with winter... and a wolf? As in the Wolves? But she had killed one... but that couldn't be right. The Dream gods must've screwed up somewhere.

Before she felt like she was going completely insane with all of these theories and juju shit, she heard a noise downstairs. It sounded like someone was opening the front door. She didn't even use her spidey-senses (yes, that's what she had decided to call them) to check who it was.

Caroline pulled on something decent, ran her fingers through her hair a few times, and flashed down the stairs into the mudroom. "Elijah?" she called out excitedly, hoping to see a friendly face.

When she saw who it was, her face fell in disappointment. "Oh," she muttered.

It was only Bonnie back from her morning run, wearing a PINK hoodie, leggings, and some sort of high end headband.

_So she gets to go back and grab all of her clothes and _I_ don't? _Caroline thought, wondering why this witch bitch got special treatment.

Bonnie scoffed, offended. "Expecting someone else?" she hissed, casting an annoyed glance at Caroline.

"Yes," came a voice from behind them. Caroline instantly knew who it was. Who else _would_ it be?

Bonnie scowled.

_Jesus, what did he do to her? She seems to hate him more than I do. _Caroline's face contorted uncomfortably. _But I don't hate him. _

"She was waiting for my brother," Klaus answered dryly. Bonnie glanced between the two of them. Was that... jealousy she detected? By the way Caroline's cheeks reddened, she could tell that it was definitely _something. _

After another moment of awkward silence, Klaus spoke. "Anyways, you two will be by yourselves today. Try not to tear each other's heads off while I'm gone."

Caroline put her hands on her hips. "And _where_ are you going?"

Bonnie wanted to laugh. As much as she hated Klaus and disliked Caroline, they fought like an old married couple.

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Why do you care?"

While he had expected some witty reply from her, instead, he saw hurt register in her eyes. It disappeared as quickly as it had shown itself, and she was back to her sassy self.

Caroline cleared her throat and replied, "Maybe because I'd rather not have another attempt on my life by Rebekah."

Klaus sighed. There really was no reason to worry. "Love, the only reason Bonnie is here is to protect you. Even from Rebekah." He chuckled, but Caroline didn't look so reassured. "I gave her a few sedatives before I left. She's probably out like a light at the moment. Like I said, she won't be a problem," he continued.

Caroline's features finally relaxed. "Fine," she said, letting her hands drop to her sides.

"I don't remember asking for your permission," he retorted, a small smile appearing on his face.

"Why else would you announce you're leaving, then?" Caroline replied, her tone equally as challenging.

He said nothing and just looked at her as if she were a child. "Goodbye, Caroline," he finally said. "Behave."

"I can't make any promises."

And with that, Klaus was out the door and on his way. He checked his watch and then slammed the gas pedal into the ground, seeing that the pharmacy was about to close. Bekah was out of her meds, and she would need more soon. She couldn't function without them. Not after what _he _did to her, Klaus thought bitterly.

...

Bonnie and Caroline tried to avoid each other for the most part, ignoring each other in the hallways and always finding something else to look at when they ended up in the same space.

Bonnie obviously didn't like Caroline, which made Caroline dislike Bonnie. Funny how things worked out that way.

In need of some fresh air, but mostly out of pure boredom, Caroline decided to go to the ocean. She needed to wash away all the bad memories that had built up in association with that place. It may have been the place she had drowned, but it couldn't be a sad place to be. It wouldn't be.

There was a slight chill in the air that let her know that winter was coming on fast.

Her toes were lodged in the sand, enjoying the cold mushy feeling of the sand all over her feet, occasionally getting wet from the ocean spray. It must be nearing high tide, she thought to herself.

As usual, a voice interrupted her peace and quiet. But it wasn't Bonnie.

_Shit._

"Caroline! What a surprise to see you're still here!"

Rebekah freaking Mikaelson.

Caroline whipped around, glowering at the platinum blond. Even though she was insanely jealous of her hair, she was _not _jealous of her... 'mental state'. Rebekah was actually fucking insane.

"What is _that _supposed to mean?" Caroline shot back, suddenly extremely nervous.

Rebekah shrugged and took a step closer to her. "Oh, just that I thought you'd be dead by now. Nik told me he was going to kill you, you know."

Caroline's face paled. This was definitely heading in a worse direction that she had imagined. Klaus had wanted her dead? It was no secret, but it was strange hearing someone say it. Did he still want her dead?

"But you took pills..." Caroline said faintly.

Rebekah laughed heartily, as if this was the funniest joke she had heard in centuries. Perhaps it was, considering whom her family was.

"Sweetie, I slipped them under my tongue so Nik would think I took them. Oldest trick in the book," she said with a smirk, as if this was common knowledge.

Unexpectedly, Rebekah flashed forward, close to Caroline's face. So close that she could feel Rebekah's hot breath on her cheeks. She peered straight into Caroline's eyes; her pupils dilating as she commanded: "Do. Not. Move."

And even though she didn't want to obey, Caroline found that she had no choice. She couldn't move a muscle—she couldn't even scream for help. Where was Bonnie when you needed her? Or Klaus? Or even Elijah, who swore he would always protect her?

Caroline stood in the sand, seemingly frozen in time, while Rebekah slowly paced in a circle around her.

"My brothers are keeping you alive only because they're both... 'interested' in you, for reasons that are far beyond me."

Caroline knew she was turning the color of a ripe tomato.

Rebekah continued speaking. Caroline was growing angrier by the minute. She couldn't even defend herself—even though she didn't know what Rebekah was accusing her of yet. And what did she mean: Elijah and Klaus were 'interested' in her? Why not get straight to the point? Was it a vampire thing or what?

"I want to know why you're really here. It's no coincidence, that's for sure. I know you have ulterior motives—and you're going to tell me them, whether you like it or not."

Caroline wasn't sure if Rebekah knew she was itching to say something, or whether she was just bored, but she suddenly said, almost amused, "You may speak."

Caroline gasped for air, glaring at Rebekah with such hatred, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to control herself if she was ever able to move again.

"Why not just compel me to tell you the truth?" she yelled furiously.

Rebekah stopped dead in her tracks and glared at Caroline. Strangely enough, she said nothing.

"What?" Caroline challenged her, gritting her teeth. "Too afraid you'll find out you're wrong and I'm _not_ lying?"

"SHUT UP!" Rebekah screamed, her temper exploding. Caroline feared for her life. How was she supposed to get out of this one?

So much for 'washing away the bad memories'.

Even though she found she could move her lips and easily speak, she stayed silent, figuring that it would keep her alive longer.

After a moment's silence, Rebekah collected herself and spoke in a calm voice, even though she still seemed just _slightly _unhinged. As in, she was _batshit crazy_.

"Any last words, Caroline? Because this is the last you'll ever see of your precious beach. Or daylight, for that matter."

At the top of her lungs, Caroline screamed, "YOU'RE A CRAZY BITCH!" Even though it had seemed like a random outburst, Caroline knew—well, hoped was more like it—that Bonnie would hear her.

"That's it!" Rebekah yelled, in a rage. She disappeared for a second, but returned quickly with something in her hands. It was a thick tree branch.

Before Caroline had time to yell out or even react, Rebekah was on top of her, holding her down by the neck. Caroline struggled under her grasp and weight, trying to get loose, but it was no use. Rebekah was too strong.

An intense pain exploded on Caroline's temple—most likely caused by the damn _log_ that the bitch was lugging around—and everything went black.

...

When she came to her senses, everything around Caroline was unfamiliar.

Except for one thing.

A nuisance she liked to call Rebekah.

Her head was pounding and she couldn't think straight. Everything was a blur.

When she saw that Caroline was awake, she clapped her hands together, almost as if she was preparing to sit down in front of the television and watch a good show. "Perfect!" she squealed, standing up.

Caroline looked around frantically, feeling a stinging pain in her wrists every time she moved them. She peered to her left and right, finding that giant chains were holding her up.

"Smeared in vervain," Rebekah told her, her lips curling into a cruel smile.

"Where am I?" Caroline screamed, suddenly in a panic.

"Somewhere no one can hear us," Rebekah said, obviously enjoying this.

They must've been underneath the ballroom, Caroline thought. That was the closest to the beach. Rebekah wasn't lying. No one would be able to hear her.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"I'm going to make you wish you'd never come here."

Rebekah suddenly whipped out a knife, slashing it across Caroline's front side, leaving a deep gash in her chest and stomach, causing her to yelp in pain. Her shirt slid to the ground, leaving her top half only covered by a bra. She felt so exposed and so dirty.

_I'm not healing. Why am I not healing? _Caroline thought, panicked.

"Oh, that's right! These chains also make it impossible to heal. They keep you alive _just _until you reach your breaking point, and then bit-by-bit, they heal you again. But each time, I'll be there to inflict more pain."

To demonstrate, Rebekah slowly dragged the blade across Caroline's forehead. Caroline whimpered, feeling her strength leaving her. So much blood was flowing from it that it was blinding her.

"Now," Rebekah said, a faint blur in Caroline's vision, "Tell me. Why are you here?"

"I told you!" Caroline screamed violently, "I'm not a spy! He took me hostage! I didn't have anything planned!"

Rebekah scrunched up her face. Clucking her tongue, she said, "Ah, ah, ah. Lies!"

She dove the knife straight through Caroline's gut. She spiraled into darkness.

...

"YOU'RE A CRAZY BITCH!"

The shout came from far away. It sounded like Caroline's voice, Bonnie thought. But that could only mean one thing. Rebekah.

Bonnie raced to the source of the sound. She could have sworn she'd heard it coming from the beach. But no one was there. She listened intently, using a trick Grams had taught her. And then she heard it—the slightest buzz, fading by the second. Caroline's aura. She followed the sound into a large building covered in vines.

But the sound was coming from directly below her. Bonnie soon found a dank, stone passageway with water leaking off the walls. It was barely illuminated and she had trouble seeing. But the aura was near.

A shaft of light sliced through the dark, and Bonnie soon saw the source. It was a doorway. She couldn't hear much coming from it. Only silence. _No. _If what she thought was happening in there really was happening, then silence could never mean good things. Caroline would _not _die on her watch. Especially if it meant facing the wrath of the Original family.

Bonnie pushed open the door, hoping that somehow Rebekah had stopped torturing Caroline and had gone to take a coffee break. But she had no such luck. Rebekah was standing to the side of the door, a knowing smile on her face.

Bonnie absorbed every detail of the room quicker than she ever had before. Walls made of stone, two pairs of chains hanging from the ceiling—a passed out Caroline attached to the one on the far right.

She was in terrible shape: her shirt had fallen to the floor and was sliced in half; blood oozing down her forehead, the fraction that had dripped off of her nose and chin pooling on the floor below. Her wrists looked like they had been burned. A long bloody gash covered her chest and stomach; a stab wound where her ribs should be. Bonnie gasped in terror at what Rebekah had done.

Before she knew it, she found herself attached to the second set of chains. Déjà vu. _So much for a rescue mission, _she thought.

...

When Caroline opened her eyes, she wished she were dead. Anything would be better than the pain she felt right then.

"Caroline?" said a voice to her right.

She strained her head and cracked open her eyes to see Bonnie. "You have to get out of here," she whimpered. Her voice was faded.

_Is she going to die? _Bonnie thought, fear washing over her in dark waves. She could still see her golden aura outlining her body, but it was barely a sliver of color. It was usually a strong glow. _Don't die on me, Caroline. Don't leave me here alone._

"It's a bit too late for that," Bonnie whispered, wondering if Caroline could even hear her.

"Please," Caroline begged, looking up, trying to look at Rebekah through the cracked blood covering her face. "Let Bonnie go—alive—and I'll tell you everything. But you can't hurt her."

Rebekah's ears perked up at this.

"I'll tell you why I'm really here," Caroline finished, sputtering out blood as she spoke.

"No, Caroline, you can't do this," Bonnie murmured, trying to talk her out of it. She knew what she was doing. Caroline was saving her. But Caroline would die. She couldn't let that happen.

Caroline shot Bonnie a look that could kill, silently commanding her to shut the fuck up.

Rebekah looked like she was thinking about the offer.

After an agonizing silence, she finally agreed. After unlocking Bonnie from the chains and pushing her out the door, Rebekah shoved her to the ground. "Run before I change my mind," she hissed. Bonnie did what she was told, casting one sad look back at where Caroline hung, suspended by the chains.

"Now," Rebekah said, bolting the door shut, "Let's have some fun."

Caroline gulped, grimaced, and readied herself for the pain that was about to be inflicted upon her.

"Why are you here?"

Caroline sighed. How had she expected to get out of this one? Maybe she wouldn't. Maybe this is how she would die.

"You know," Caroline croaked, "Klaus won't like this very much."

Rebekah took a step closer to Caroline, kneeing her in the gut, leaving her to cry out in pain. She whispered in her ear, "Shut up, and stop avoiding my questions."

A sudden burst of inspiration hit Caroline like a flash of lightning. _Klaus. Of course. The Oath!_

"You can't kill me," Caroline muttered, a victorious smile slipping onto her face.

"I can do whatever the hell I want," Rebekah retorted, her words dripping with poison.

"Not if you want Klaus alive."

"What do you mean?" Rebekah asked, suddenly interested in what Caroline had to say.

Caroline let out a sick chuckle. "We made an oath. A _blood _oath, Rebekah. He protects me, I help him with his little mission. If I die, he fails. And we both know the penalty for that is death."

Rebekah scoffed, not wanting to believe this girl, but starting to. How else would she know about the sacred blood oath?

"You're bluffing," she muttered, not looking Caroline in the eye.

"We both know I'm not," Caroline whispered.

Suddenly, it was all too much for Rebekah. She clutched fistfuls of hair in her hands, pacing back and forth across the room quickly. "Stop telling me these lies!"

"Rebekah—" Caroline started. But she couldn't finish her sentence.

Bekah whipped a gun out of her pocket, aiming it at Caroline's chest and firing. The minute it entered her body, she knew that these were no normal bullets. They were made of wood; she could feel it.

She screamed, arching her back, wanting to end it all right then.

"Tell. Me. The. Truth!" Rebekah screamed, her calm and collected façade finally over and done with. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

"I am!" Caroline yelled, desperately wanting the girl to believe her. She had to believe her. Or else it would be all over.

"Don't make me shoot again," Bekah warned, aiming the gun at Caroline's heart.

"Do you really want to risk losing Nik? Do you want to take that chance?" Caroline yelled, trying her hardest to stay conscious. She fought the darkness. She pushed it away with all her might. She would win this battle.

"BE QUIET!"

Caroline howled in excruciating agony, tears streaming down her face as the wooden bullet flew into her head. It was lodged in her brain, she could feel it. She needed to get her hands out of the chains. She needed to claw out the bullet. She jerked her wrists back and forth, willing to break them if she had to.

"I'm giving you one last chance," Bekah said, her voice a low and venomous whisper.

Caroline shook her head no. She couldn't speak. Ragged sobs escaped her lips.

Suddenly, she was somewhere else. The pain was still there, and she was still chained up, but Rebekah had disappeared into thin air. The room had a strange gray glow to it. Tyler was there.

"Tyler!" she called out.

He saw her and began to say something when suddenly he crumpled to the ground, his eyes unblinking.

"No..." she murmured.

She tried to call out his name, but she found she couldn't speak.

Elijah was there to take his place.

As soon as he took a step towards her, the sickening sound of a blade being plunged through flesh overwhelmed Caroline's ears. His knees buckled, a horrified expression on his face.

Caroline screamed in terror, feeling like she was losing her mind. "This isn't real!" she screamed.

When she looked up from Elijah's body, Klaus was standing there.

She tried to tell him to stop, that he would die, like the rest. She only brought death. But again, no words came to her mouth.

Gunshots were fired. 8 piercing bullet holes covered his chest. He, too, fell to the ground, looking betrayed. His eyes closed as he choked out: 'Why?'

As she watched him die, she felt as if her heart was being ripped from her chest. Her tormented screams filled the room as she shouted his name over and over again. "Klaus! Klaus! KLAUS!"

...

Klaus had come back to an empty house. The first thing he did when arrived back home was call for Caroline. But there was no answer. _Odd, _thought.

He called Bonnie's name, too. Again, no answer. He set down the sack filled with Bekah's meds on the kitchen counter, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. It was too quiet. Something was definitely not right.

He wandered around the house for around ten minutes before giving up his search for the two. Caroline was probably frolicking in the woods. Bonnie was probably being defiant and not answering him, locked up in her room.

Klaus let go of the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, sighed, and sat down on a stool in the kitchen, pouring himself a drink.

A crash sounded somewhere throughout the house. It sounded like a door being ripped off its hinges.

"Who's there?" Klaus called out, clutching his glass tighter.

"Klaus?" The voice was desperate. Bonnie. But where was Caroline?

He walked towards the source, finding Bonnie in the front hall, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

"Klaus, please, help, please, help!" she was babbling. He grabbed her by the shoulders, making her face him.

"What, girl? Spit it out!"

"It's Caroline!" she yelled. "Rebekah took her, and... she has her in the bottom of the ballroom... she's going to kill her!"

Not waiting for any more explanation, Klaus flashed as fast as he possibly could to the ballroom, to the top of the passageway's steps. He sprinted down the stairs, running to the room where Caroline was. When he walked inside, Rebekah was nowhere to be seen. She must have heard him coming.

"Klaus! Klaus! KLAUS!" she screamed frantically, not seeing him. Tears poured down her face before her head lolled there limply. She was seeing something else. Rebekah was making her hallucinate.

The scene before him was terrifying. A bullet hole in her head. One in her chest. A gash across her forehead; one trailing down her bare chest; an angry knife wound in her gut. Her own blood covered her face. He raced over and realized he could hear her heart beat, relieved. Not even having time to marvel at her topless body, Klaus unchained her and lowered her into his arms. She had stopped screaming and lay limp in his arms, her breathing ragged.

Brushing a piece of her golden hair out of her face, he looked down at her and whispered gently, "It's all right, sweetheart. I have you know."

* * *

**I was really inspired when I wrote this chapter, so hopefully it translates (:**

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**Hint: Next chapter involves MG and Rebekah's backstory... but I probably won't update till after the 18th... exams and projects are due... blech. **

**SOoo just bare with me and I promise I'll do my best to update!**


	13. The Girl Made of Glass

**Another update! I lied before ;)**

* * *

_Day 18_

* * *

Caroline woke up screaming, sitting straight up in her bed, panting. The pain had disappeared. The cuts, bruises, burns, and blood were all gone. But the memories were still there. Every torturous second of it filled every single crevice of her mind.

Klaus was there, sitting by her bedside, watching her intently from his chair. Once he saw that she was awake, he sat on the edge of her bed and stared into her eyes. "It's alright, Caroline. She's gone."

Caroline, who was in a state of panic, finally looked into his eyes. A confused look formed on her face. She gasped. "But... you're dead!" she broke into another fit of sobs. "I saw you die..." she choked out.

_So that was what the hallucinations were about, _he thought bitterly. _How could Bekah be so cruel?_

"You, and Elijah, and Tyler... you're all dead," she whimpered. "This isn't real," she said, a bit quieter.

Klaus sighed angrily. He would make Rebekah pay for all she had done to Caroline.

"It wasn't real, love," Klaus assured her, cupping her face in his hands. His voice was low and gentle. "They were only hallucinations."

Caroline closed her eyes, leaning into his palm subconsciously.

Tears still streamed down her face, and Klaus' heart ached for her. All that she had been through was finally coming down on her all at once. Maybe she needed rest. Maybe she wanted to be alone, Klaus thought.

He gently let his palms fall to his sides, starting to leave, but a hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. It was hers.

"Don't leave," she begged him, her eyes pleading.

He did as she asked and sat himself down next to her, pulling her into his chest. Caroline clutched his shirt in her hands, sobbing into it. Her true self was finally revealed through her cracked façade. She was stronger than anyone he had ever known, but that didn't mean she didn't mask her pain from time to time. Even the strongest people had to release once in a while.

Klaus wrapped his arms around her, stroking her golden hair softly and resting his head on top of hers.

After a while, her crying ceased, turning into occasional sniffles.

"Thank you," she whispered into his chest.

She slowly pulled herself back from him, catching his eyes as she did so. Her breath hitched—the way he was looking at her made her heart stop.

She broke their eye contact and wrenched herself out of his grip, muttering something about needing fresh air.

"Caroline..." Klaus called after her.

Her knees started to buckle beneath her. She was feeling unexpectedly lightheaded and dizzy all of a sudden. But Klaus was there to hold her up. He caught her in his arms, steadying her until she could stand upright again.

"I fed you medicine for the pain," he explained. "The best thing for you to do is rest right now."

She avoided his worried gaze as he guided her back to her bed. Once he had laid her down and covered her up in layers of blankets, he placed a light kiss on her forehead. After turning off the lights, he lingered in the doorway for a moment before finally shutting the door and walking downstairs.

Bonnie's worried voice greeted him from the hallway. "Is she okay? Will she be alright?"

When Bonnie had last seen Caroline, she was in a worse condition than she had left her in. Rebekah had done some serious damage.

"She's fine," Klaus said curtly.

There was something he wasn't telling her. "Is she really?" Bonnie asked suspiciously.

"She's a bit shaken up, that's all," Klaus snapped, losing his patience.

He was lying. Bonnie had heard her strangled sobs from upstairs. Caroline was broken. Her porcelain skin was finally scarred.

"Don't blame yourself," Bonnie said, trying to console him.

Klaus didn't answer.

Of course he blamed himself. He shouldn't have fallen for his sister's trickery. He should have noticed the signs sooner.

"You really like her, don't you?"

Instead of defending himself, Klaus shot the witch a questioning look.

"You could have easily killed me by now for letting her out of my sight. You could have killed _her _by now. But you haven't. You're trying to change. For her."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Klaus asked suddenly, utterly dumbfounded.

Bonnie sighed. "Because denying it doesn't make it go away. Trust me. The best thing you can do is tell the person how you feel, because otherwise, you'll spend the rest of your life wondering if they feel the same. Which for you, is forever. No one deserves that sort of fate. Not even you."

Klaus took her words in and locked them up with a key, knowing that this would probably be the only time she would ever speak to him so kindly again.

_I care for Caroline... _he realized, wanting to punch a wall. He had built up walls for centuries, protecting himself for this sort of thing. They had all come crashing down the minute he met her.

...

Caroline woke up in the dark, completely disoriented. Everything came flashing back to her in a split second. You could escape the pain during sleep, but when you woke up, everything felt even worse.

She remembered how Klaus had held her, how his strong arms had felt around her waist. The looks he had given her... the way he said her name... how her heart stopped every time she looked at him...

_Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. This could not be happening. _Caroline shook herself out of it and went downstairs to—she didn't know why she went downstairs. In fact, she wanted to race back upstairs and avoid _him _at all costs.

She found Bonnie sitting in an armchair in the living room all by herself, staring into the fire.

The floorboards beneath Caroline's feet creaked, and Bonnie glanced up quickly, her eyes widening. She rushed over to where Caroline was. "Oh my God! You're okay!" she said, overwhelmed with relief. Bonnie wrapped her arms around her, letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in.

She finally let go and beckoned to the second armchair. "Sit down, sit down," she commanded.

Caroline did as she was told. Bonnie was being unusually nice to her. The whole time she had stayed silent, not saying a single word. She didn't know what she would say. What would she say to Klaus? Or Elijah, if he ever did get back?

After another moment of silence, Bonnie spoke. "Thank you," she said, glancing over at Caroline, her eyes filled with gratitude. "You saved my life today."

"I couldn't let you suffer for something that was my fault," Caroline murmured. _It was my fault. All of this is my fault, _she thought.

"Hey," Bonnie said, begging Caroline to look at her, "None of this was your fault. You have to know that."

"Why do you hate me?" she suddenly blurted out.

"What? I don't—"

Caroline flashed her a look. "Tell me what I did in high school to make you not like me."

Bonnie sighed and stretched her hands out in front of her, cracking her knuckles. She guessed Caroline deserved to know. "Matt was my best friend. Until you guys started to date. He grew distant... I told him that you would never work—that you would break his heart. He didn't believe me until it happened. You know, when you broke up with him over text?"

Caroline wanted to curse her old self. She had been such a bitch!

"By the time he actually had time to hang around me, I guess it was too late. We had grown too far apart. I held that against you for the rest of high school—because I thought you were a shallow bitch. And I'm truly sorry for that."

By the time she was finished, Bonnie was breathless, and Caroline was staring at her, dumbfounded.

And then she started to laugh.

Bonnie's face lit up in concern until Caroline said, "I was a shallow bitch."

The two laughed together for a while, their eyes wet with tears. It was good to forget about all the bad times, even if it was only for a short while.

Her face suddenly serious and her voice quiet, Bonnie said, "I have a question."

Caroline's voice lowered as well, knowing that this was probably not something to be screaming throughout the house. It was an unspoken rule in the girl handbook to life. Whispering means secrets. Secrets mean friendship.

"Shoot," she told Bonnie.

"Klaus said the only reason that I'm here is to protect you. Do you ever wonder what will happen to us when this—whatever 'this' is—is all over?"

Caroline admitted that she had thought about it. A lot. But she couldn't admit to Bonnie that _her _life and freedom was a guarantee. Bonnie's fate, on the other hand, she did not know.

"I promise you," she told her, grasping her hand, "I will protect you when this is all over. I'll do whatever it takes. I'll make a deal with the devil if I have to. I won't let Klaus—or anyone—hurt you."

...

It was late at night and Caroline was craving a snack. Not blood, no. Cheese puffs, perhaps? And that was when she saw it. Why a house full of vampires had it in the first place, she had no idea.

_Nutella. _Her favorite food in the entire world. Comfort food was definitely what she needed at the moment.

She grabbed a silver spoon from the silverware drawer and indulged herself in a spoonful of the gooey chocolate-hazelnut spread. She went to go put the tub back in the pantry when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She whipped around in fear to find Klaus inches away from her face.

"Late night snack?" he said, an amused smile sprouting from his lips.

"Mhmm," she murmured, finding herself unable to say anything else.

His thumb wiped a glob of Nutella off of the side of her lip, sending nervous tingles through her body.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asked quietly, ducking under his arm.

He shook his head. "I'm guessing you couldn't, either."

Caroline gulped. She didn't want to think about Rebekah. But she couldn't _not _think about it.

"I'm going back to bed," Caroline said hurriedly, heading for the stairs.

"Caroline, wait," Klaus called out to her.

"What?" she said, whipping around to face him, a bit exasperated with his constant worrying. She was fine. Just because she had sobbed uncontrollably into his stupid Henley shirt hours before didn't mean that she was going to be sad forever. She. Was. Fine.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He looked and sounded concerned. Why should he care? Caroline asked herself. It's not like they were friends.

"I'm fine." It seemed like she had repeated that line over and over again that day.

"I just thought you should know a little about Rebekah. I don't want you to think that Rebekah was always like this. I want you to know why."

Caroline thought about her mom. How she used to laugh and smile like a normal mother would. They used to bake cookies on the weekends and fly kites in the park after school. She wasn't always detached from real life like she was now. How long had it been since she had seen her? Months?

She sighed and walked back into the kitchen. "Fine. Tell me everything. But after this, I never want to hear her name again. You hear me?"

Klaus nodded understandingly.

"But not here," he told her, gesturing towards his right.

Caroline suddenly felt nervous being alone with him again. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, so why was she scared? Her heart thudded as she nodded and followed him down a small hallway and up a winding staircase—a black one made of tin that made her think they were going up to the roof.

She was right. She found herself at the top of the Mikaelson manor, looking down at the forest below. A strong wind nearly knocked her backwards, but she caught herself just in time.

A small striped lawn chair sat on the edge of the roof facing the east.

"You come up here often?" Caroline asked, genuinely curious.

Klaus picked up on this, of course, and replied casually, saying, "Only when Elijah's constant need to be kind annoys me to the point of feeling like I want to punch a wall."

Caroline couldn't help but giggle at his comment. Elijah and Klaus certainly couldn't be more different.

"Sit," Klaus told her, motioning towards the ratty lawn chair.

She pursed her lips and shook her head no. She pushed the chair aside and sat on the floor.

Just as Klaus was about to sit down next to her it appeared as though he had remembered something. "Stay right here," he said, disappearing.

He quickly appeared again, a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey in one hand, two glasses in the other.

Caroline chuckled dryly to herself. _The fact that he keeps a secret stash on the roof is so un-Klaus-like, _she thought.

He sat down crisscross applesauce, holding out a glass, pouring it till it was spilling over the brim, and then handed it to her.

Once he did the same thing for himself, Caroline raised a glass in toast and muttered: "Here's to sad backstories and whiskey at midnight," she said, clinking her glass with his and taking a sip.

"Cheers," Klaus responded, leaning back on his elbows, stretching his legs out, and enjoying the view of the throng of evergreens.

Klaus sighed before he started.

"Rebekah was never an extremely happy person. She's never had a bubbly personality."

Caroline expected just as much.

"But the happiest I've ever seen her is when she was with him."

Caroline was dying to ask so many questions already. But she kept quiet and watched Klaus intently. For some reason, she could not keep her eyes off of his lips. Before he could notice, she pulled her gaze back up to his eyes, which didn't seem to change anything. They still mesmerized her in a way that she couldn't describe.

"His name was Marcel," Klaus said, anger slowly rising just to the surface. Even the mention of his name got Klaus' blood boiling. "Marcel Gerard."

Caroline could feel a shift in the air. The memory of Marcel was obviously not a fond one in Klaus' opinion.

But something had clicked in her head. Marcel Gerard... "MG..." she whispered, a wave of revelation washing over her.

Klaus' head whipped in her direction. "What did you say?" he asked, a bit shocked.

"MG..." she repeated, louder this time. "The initials carved on the desk. They were his, weren't they?"

Klaus' features darkened. His eyes looked black under the pale moonlight.

He didn't answer, but Caroline already knew the answer.

Klaus continued on with the story, not bothering to reply to Caroline's burning question. _She's a smart one. She'll figure it out._

"The two met at a gala my family had hosted. People who saw them say it was love at first sight—but I knew better."

"He didn't love her?" Caroline asked, sad that Rebekah had been so foolish and fallen in love so quickly. Love stories never had a happy ending, because love wasn't real. That was one thing Caroline had taken away from life. Her mother hadn't loved her, or else she wouldn't have abandoned her. Her father wouldn't have left if he had loved her. Tyler wouldn't have cheated. The Wolves wouldn't have left her behind if they were truly her friends.

_How could one man turn someone into something so fragile? _But Caroline realized it wasn't just the work of one person. _It takes a village; isn't that the saying? What else happened to make her the way she is?_

"He was only after our money. After months of gaining our trust and having my sister fall in love with him, he left one night with all the money we had. He just disappeared—we never saw him again."

The thought of that happening to anyone was unimaginable. Maybe if Rebekah hadn't beaten her half to death, she would feel sorrier for her.

"Of course," Klaus continued, gulping down the last of his whiskey, "the money wasn't a problem. But Marcel's betrayal left Bekah heartbroken. After that, she was never the same again. She would spend countless hours locked up in her room all by her lonesome, crying out his name while she slept. When it finally hit her that he wasn't coming back, she just lost it. She grew to be violent and withdrew even more from the world—she distanced herself from our family. But what really ruined Rebekah was what happened ten years ago."

Caroline's voice was dry after keeping quiet for so long. "What happened?" she croaked, taking a sip of her drink to moisten her lips.

Klaus stared into space, gulping down what looked like tears. He tensed and his chest tightened. "Nothing," he managed to spit out.

Looking away from Klaus and into her glass, Caroline saw that it was empty. She quickly grabbed the bottle before Klaus could stop her and guzzled the rest of it down. She let out a tiny hiccup and giggled when she saw his shocked expression.

"Let's forget about the bad times for a while," she slurred. "Just let go and have fun."

'Just letting go' wasn't really in Klaus' vocabulary, but he indulged her nonetheless.

Caroline lay on her back, staring up at the starry night, and Klaus followed. He hadn't _really _looked at the stars in a long time.

"It's so beautiful up here," Caroline said breathlessly, her eyes scanning the sky above her, searching for a shooting star.

"It is," Klaus agreed; his voice was soft. He turned his head to look at her with admiration.

"Goodnight," Caroline said. She had said it so softly that Klaus almost hadn't caught it. Her eyes slowly fluttered closed. In a matter of minutes, she was sound asleep, her chest rhythmically rising and falling.

"Goodnight, Caroline," Klaus finally said, hoping she wouldn't hear him.

It was Caroline's first dreamless night in months.

* * *

**How'd ya like it?**

**Feelin kinda down after a guest said my story was aggravating and they were done reading it :/ not sure if it was some sort of joke but i still feel kinda crappy :( it was my first bad review and man it sucks! but anyways keep reviewing you guys rock :')**


	14. The Maple

**Sorry I haven't updated sooner, I tried all today and it said the server was unavailable :(  
Anyways I finally updated! yay! Hopefully this chapter was worth the wait :)**

**Merry christmas for those who celebrate it (: and if not, happy holidays and have a greaaaat break!**

**Comment below- anything you want!**

* * *

_D__ay 19_

* * *

Where was he?

The evergreens, the crisp morning breeze, a sliver of sunlight trickling through the clouds... why was he outside? And why did his head hurt so much?

And who—

Klaus sucked in a gasp when he saw who was lying next to him.

_Caroline._

A bottle of —no doubt alcohol—lay on the floor next to Caroline's head.

What the hell happened last night? The last thing he remembered was talking to her about Bekah's past. About everything that had happened with Marcel—god, why had he told her that?

Had they both said goodnight? Or had something else happened? _Hopefully the first_, Klaus thought.

Klaus carefully and quietly stepped away from Caroline, heading down to the kitchen below.

Trying to shake the thought of Caroline from his head, he went to make himself a bowl of Frosted Flakes before realizing that it would probably taste like shit.

And then suddenly, he smelled it. Or rather, who.

Klaus' lips curled into a menacing snarl—he whipped around and lunged backwards.

Bekah stood in front of him, pinned to the fridge, looking anything but scared. She had no idea what she was in for.

"You bitch," Klaus growled.

"I learned from the best," Rebekah declared defiantly.

"What are you—" he started, before the platinum blond so rudely interrupted him.

Still under his tight grasp, Rebekah barely managed to get the words out. "You always taught me to follow orders, Nik. You and everyone else in this damn family."

Klaus took a step back from his sister and glared at her. "What have you done?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"As you've said many times before, brother," Rebekah started, her voice hurt, "I don't have a mind of my own. I guess you were right."

A strangled sob escaped her.

At the moment, Klaus didn't care for his sister's emotional stability (or lack thereof).

"Bekah!" Klaus thundered, demanding to know what the hell she was getting at.

"It wasn't my plan," she blubbered. "It wasn't mine," she repeated, softer this time.

Klaus finally released his sister from his grasp. "Who's was it, then?" Klaus snapped, losing patience. He was losing time. And time was of the essence.

"The same person who compelled Lucinda to kill her," she stammered.

Klaus' fist slammed down on the marble countertop, causing blood to ooze from his knuckles. Rebekah yelped and cowered in fear, her eyes wild. "Bloody hell, Bekah! Tell me who did this!"

"But she'll kill me!" she begged, staring into her brother's eyes, hoping for mercy. But it just wasn't Bekah's day—or century, for that matter.

"Tell someone who cares," Nik hissed coldly.

Her lower lip quivered as she blurted out, "Katherine!"

In an instant, she covered her mouth with her hands, just as a child would do who had just broken their mother's favorite vase.

Klaus' face turned to stone. "No," he breathed out. "She's dead."

His eyes drifted to his sister's. "Don't lie to me," he growled.

"I'm not!" she whimpered, fiddling with the necklace wrapped around her neck. "She's alive, Nik, and she wants you dead."

Klaus tried to make sense of all of this in his head. None of it made sense. A burning question filled his mind. He couldn't _not_ notask her.

"Why hurt Caroline?"

Rebekah scoffed, almost as if this was common knowledge. "She's been watching you for a long time, brother. Of course she knows Caroline is the only way to lure the Wolves into your trap. She already knows that she's the key to your revenge. And let me tell you, she's hellbent on making sure you suffer for an eternity. She'll always be one step ahead of you." She sounded pleased with herself.

And just like that, she had turned back into the manipulative bitch Klaus had come to love—and hate at the same time.

"I want you to send a message to Katherine, sister," Klaus snarled. He took a step closer to her and stared into her blue eyes. "Tell her: 'game on'."

In a flash, Klaus was left standing alone in the kitchen, his fists clenched tightly together.

_If Katherine is back, it won't be a game. It will be a war._

...

_There she was again, wearing the indigo dress, trudging through the thick snow, shielding her face from the harsh flakes coming down from the skies above._

_The lone black wolf with deep golden eyes stood in the barren wasteland, its back turned to her. _

_She strode towards it, a feeling of confidence surging through her. For some unknown reason, she was no longer afraid. She knew this wolf. _

_As the wolf turned around to face her, she could see its hollowed out eyes and haunting ribs pushing through its skin. It begged her for help—for mercy. _

_Words came tumbling out of her mouth—words she didn't choose to speak. _

"_Who are you?" she asked, staring into the wolf's eyes with curiosity and wonder._

_Again, the wolf spoke. "You know all too well," it said. And she did. She knew that voice._

_As she peered into its enchanting golden eyes, she saw something change. Something crossed the wolf's face. _

_Caroline opened her mouth to speak, but the wolf cut her off. Its gruff voice sent chills through her body and she hugged her shawl closer to her shoulders._

"_Caroline!" It said her name repeatedly, seemingly for no reason at all. But she was too shocked to reply. How did it know her name?_

_"Caroline!" It yelled more desperately this time. But this wasn't according to plan. This wasn't how the dream went. Caroline screamed as the wolf's skin melted into blood and it lunged for her._

_..._

"Caroline!" he barked more sternly this time. He had been calling her for ages. She was alive and breathing, but she had been so deep in her sleeping state that he worried if she had fallen under some sort of coma. Which was_ exactly_ what he needed.

The last thing she saw before waking up was the maw of the wolf in her dreams. Her screams pierced the early morning air.

Klaus put his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Hey, hey," he assured her. "You're okay. You're here."

After she failed to reply, trying to catch her breath, he asked gently, "Was it a dream about Rebekah?"

Her voice was hoarse as she answered. "Yes," she lied.

"She's gone. You don't have to worry about her."

She gulped and politely squirmed out of his grasp. Her head pounded and she sat up slowly, putting a hand to her temple, groggily looking around her. She hadn't had any dreams that night. But something had changed, and all of a sudden, they had come back.

Caroline wished she could tell Klaus about her dreams. But he had dealt with enough of her problems for a lifetime. Besides, it wasn't like the dreams meant anything.

It was too bright. The birds were chirping too loudly. He was too close and there were too many of him.

"What do you want?" she snapped quickly, wanting him to leave before she barfed off of his fancyass rooftop.

"Come downstairs as soon as you're... decent," he insisted, an edge to his voice that hadn't been there before. "We have matters to discuss."

He strode downstairs, leaving Caroline to be all by her lonesome.

She peered out over the rooftop, staring down at the treetops, trying hard to focus on something far away. Isn't that what people did when they were seasick? Didn't it work the same for hangovers? Did vampires even get hangovers?

Something caught her eye in the trees. It was only a flash of movement, but she could've sworn it was there.

No. It was nothing and she was still drunk.

Once she composed herself, flattened out her clothes, and picked a few stray leaves out of her hair, Caroline walked down the long winding stairs, carried herself through the endless passageway, and made her way to the kitchen, where she noticed a small crack in the tile on the wall.

"What happened here?" she asked to an empty room, knowing Klaus was somewhere in earshot.

His voice traveled out of the nearby study.

"It doesn't matter," he murmured. "What does matter is that I now know who's after you and why."

She poured herself a refreshing glass of orange juice and gulped it down before holding her hands up questioningly and prodding him for answers. "Well, who is it, then? And why the hell am I the target?"

Klaus pursed his lips thoughtfully, not sure quite how to tell her about the she-devil that was Katherine Pierce.

"It's someone from my past who I choose not to tell you much about." When a look of protestation crossed her face, he silenced her quickly with a look. "For good reason, Caroline. She's not to be trifled with."

"She?" Caroline asked, trying to figure out how to put the pieces together. "What, is she a jealous ex-girlfriend or something?"

"No, Caroline," he said, a bit patronizing, "Not exactly."

Even though her entire body buzzed with excitement and fear wanting to know about her attacker. But she could tell that it wasn't something Klaus wanted to discuss quite yet—and she respected that. But she hoped he knew that he would have to tell her eventually.

All she could muster out was: "What now?"

"Now?" he asked almost as if he wasn't quite sure himself. More reassuringly, Klaus continued on, saying, "Now we prepare for battle."

Caroline had to laugh at the ridiculousness of all of it. This wasn't some gladiator movie from the 90s. She was Caroline Forbes: high school cheerleader, college graduate, and the girl with a picture perfect life. She didn't 'battle' anything. The only thing that she had ever come close to fighting with was her unruly hair on prom night.

But Klaus wasn't as half as amused as she. "What's so funny?" he asked her, his eyes narrowing, wishing she would take this more seriously. Katherine was a serious threat, and she could swoop in and kill his entire family any day now.

Her giggling ceased as soon as she saw the unhappy look on his face. "Nothing," she mumbled.

He swiftly moved towards the cellar downstairs, slightly beckoning Caroline to follow suit. As he did so, he figured he shouldn't have been so crisp and brief with the poor girl. She had been through a lot the past couple days. Everyone had different ways of dealing with their pain. While he pushed people away, Caroline seemed like the person who people would be begging to help. She was per—the definition of what every person wanted to be around. Maybe if she was so used to being waited on hand and foot, she didn't know how to deal with the hurt on her own.

As Caroline followed Klaus down the stairs into the cellar, chills ran up her spine and she dug her nails into her palm—so much so that she drew blood. This place looked identical to the basement of the ballroom. Where Rebekah had kept her. She needed to distract herself from thoughts of what had happened. She had to think about something—anything else. Like, for example: why was Klaus acting so strange? One moment he was okay—more than okay, she admitted sheepishly—and the next, he was cold and distant. Much like her mother had been the years before she left.

He had been so kind to her when she had been at her breaking point. Hell, She had sobbed into his freaking arms! Whether or not either of them wanted to admit it, they had shared a moment. If he had been there for her then, why couldn't he be there for her now? Most people in her life had left, or were dead. But 99% of them didn't care about what happened to her. Her problems were overlooked for someone else's. She had finally found someone who would listen—in the strangest of circumstances.

She had truly hated him when he had taken her. After all, she thought he had killed her friends. He locked her up for a week before the bomb of all bombs had been dropped on her: he was a thousand-year-old vampire! He had been a lying; manipulative, bastard who was deadset on tearing out her heart. But everything had changed. They had become _friends. _He had shown her his compassionate side. While, yes, he still did terrible things, they weren't for no good reason. She had come to realize that now.

But all of a sudden, he was different. She could feel a shift in the air between them. He was angry, or stressed, or frustrated; exasperated; he seemed far away and annoyed with her. Maybe she was reading too much into it, but it seemed that either the girl who was after her had an effect on him that she couldn't understand quite yet, or he was angry with her for unknown reasons.

In the midst of all of her thinking and pondering, she hadn't noticed that Klaus had stopped in the middle of the hallway.

Her face slammed straight into his back.

"We're here," he said curtly.

_Where exactly is here? _Caroline wanted to ask him, but she knew better and kept her mouth shut.

Klaus turned and opened a tiny wooden door, cracks running along the center. It looked as if someone had tried to escape.

Caroline gulped before venturing inside.

It wasn't another room, no. It was a beautiful little hidden courtyard. A Japanese maple sat in one corner, its vibrant red leaves gracefully gliding towards the lush green grass below. A tiny stone bench sat beneath it. Caroline wondered if anyone ever used this garden. It shouldn't go to waste.

"This is where we'll train," Klaus said suddenly, turning to look at her.

"And what exactly will this consist of?" she asked, not meeting his eyes; she was too intrigued by this beautiful spot.

"Since you've seemed to have mastered controlling your urges already, and you can obviously handle yourself in a fight, I'm preparing you for something different. Katherine isn't as old as I am, but she's just as strong. She'll use things to destroy you that you would have never seen coming."

Right as Caroline was about to ask what 'different tactics' these were, she stopped herself and replayed his words in her head. Had he said... Katherine?

"Katherine," she whispered to herself, somewhat in awe. _Now if could only put a name to a face, _she thought.

Klaus' face paled.

"So that's her name," she said, a twinkle in her eye. Couldn't it have been more menacing, like Belinda? Or—she actually didn't know that many evil-sounding names, so she guessed it wasn't that bad. At least her name wasn't Sunny McLovin or something.

Klaus didn't say anything.

"What's so bad about knowing her name?" Caroline prodded, suddenly frustrated with him. Why did he feel like he couldn't tell her anything? Hadn't she proven herself to be trustworthy already? Or was he hiding something from her?

"The less you know about her, the better."

Caroline scoffed. "And what, a name is going to change that? Wouldn't it be best if I knew _more _about her, not less?"

"Once you know one thing, anything- a name- Caroline, you'll want to know more. I can't have you asking questions about what happened between Katherine and me." His eyes darkened, which made her even more curious. "As I said before, the less you know, the better. I hoped to at least subdue your curiosity about the matter until it was necessary."

Caroline felt angry. Furious, actually. "I'm not some little girl who needs to be kept in the dark because it'll protect her innocence," she fumed, "I've been through a lot—I've been hurt a lot. And you know why? Because no one told me _anything._" She took a deep breath and swallowed down the tears.

"I was told my mother was fine. That was before they hauled her off to the nuthouse. My father told me he loved me. Then he left me. I was eight years old and alone. My only friends in the world told me that they would always look out for me. And look where _that _got me. _Tyler _told me he loved me. And then he _left me to die_."

Caroline's voice was seething and bitter. "So, Klaus," she spat, a scowl on her face, "You can surely see why I'm _sick_ of being lied to. It ends now."

Klaus didn't know how to reply. He hadn't known about her mother or her father. He hadn't known how strongly she still felt about Tyler. She felt betrayed and hurt. He understood the feeling. He knew it all too well.

"Make a deal with me, Caroline," he announced.

Her eyebrows quirked up; she was confused by his response. She had expected him to be angry after a rant like that, but he was strangely understanding and calm.

She nodded, urging him to continue. Had she really gotten through to him? Or would this be the day that she would die?

"If after this session of training, you've succeeded, then I'll tell you all you want to know. If not, I'll tell you when you _are_ ready. Do you agree?"

Caroline didn't know anything about the 'training', but she knew that this type of offer wouldn't present itself to her ever again. She agreed and took it.

"Well, then, let's begin," Klaus said.

Caroline waited patiently for him to continue. He flashed her a strange look before continuing on.

"Your task is to grab the sword. That's it."

_Seems pretty simple to me. You know, if there actually was a sword to grab. _As soon as she was about to ask him where the sword was, he was gone.

The courtyard seemed so much larger now, strangely enough. And then she saw it. A glistening sword lined with gold lay at the other end of the courtyard.

She sprinted towards it, wondering if this was some sort of sick joke. It way too easy.

She had definitely spoken too soon.

A voice called out from behind her.

"Help!" it wailed. She knew that voice.

Suddenly there were dozens of the voices. She knew all of them.

_Mom. Dad. Stefan. Matt. Elijah. Bonnie. Tyler. _

They were all lying on the grass, blood slowly oozing out of their necks.

She rushed over to Tyler, who looked like he was in the most pain. She stopped herself from touching him, wondering if any of this was even real. But she let herself do so anyways, reaching out to touch his face.

Caroline could feel his face. It was soft to the touch, like one of an angel's.

Tyler looked into her eyes, begging her to help him.

In the blink of an eye, it was all gone. The agonizing cries, the people, the blood on the dewy grass...

And the only thing left was Klaus, standing in front of her with a cross look on his face.

"You failed," was all he said.

Caroline stood up and thrust her hands into the air angrily. "How do you expect me to go fetch a freaking _sword _when everyone I love is dying around me?" she yelled.

"Because this is _exactly _what Katherine will do to you! She'll exploit your weaknesses by using your memories and people you love!" he yelled back. But he seemed angrier than he should've been.

"Nothing else seemed real," she retorted. "But I could feel Tyler's face. Since I don't know _anything _about what vampires can do," she said accusingly, "I had no idea whether or not to trust myself! What did you expect me to do? Let him bleed out on the ground?"

"I expected you not to still be in love with him!" Klaus blurted out, seething with anger.

This made Caroline fall silent. Was she still in love with Tyler? Did that explain why she chose him out of all those people? Rather than her own flesh and blood?

Klaus surprised himself, too, even wondering himself why he cared even the slightest bit about Tyler and whether or not Caroline still loved him. He quickly covered up by saying, "I expected you not to have any weaknesses. It seems to me that everyone you've ever loved has hurt you. I was testing to see if there was something that would push you past your breaking point."

Even though he hadn't meant it to come out that way, his voice sounded bitter. "Obviously there is."

"Klaus..." Caroline didn't even know why she felt the need to apologize to him, but she wanted to nonetheless.

"We're done for today," he said briskly, walking out of the room and leaving her all by herself.

* * *

**How'd ya like it?  
****Did you expect you know who to be the person after Caroline?  
****What's her reason?**

**Thoughts on the Klaroline/Caroline's (maybe) feelings for Tyler?**

**What do the dreams mean? (Notice how they're getting more detailed... could be foreshadowing ;))**


	15. Polaroids and Prisms

**New chapter :) Happy 2014! Hopefully you like this one... ;) Lots of good things to come!**

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_Day 20_

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_Could it be possible? _He thought, his head swimming with seemingly impossible thoughts. _Could Tyler's father really have murdered four people? _

Stefan walked outside with Matt and Tyler—Matt had a look on his face as if he was trying to figure something out, while Tyler's expression was stormy and foreboding.

As the three walked in the direction of their 'borrowed' vehicle, something stopped them and caused their bones to rattle.

A voice as smooth as velvet.

"Long time, no see, Wolves."

A man wearing a suit and a Mona-Lisa-smile stood in front of them.

Warning bells rang loudly in Stefan's mind. He would know this man anywhere.

"You," Tyler snarled, his fists balled up in anger.

It was Niklaus Mikaelson's brother—Elijah.

"RUN!" Stefan barked. Matt and Tyler sprinted towards the car, wasting no time. Stefan had started to run, too, but Elijah's strong hand had caught his collar and pulled him back.

Tyler and Matt, who were now sitting in the front seats of the car, had terrified expressions on their faces. They didn't want to leave him behind. But they would have to.

"Go!" Stefan ordered. If they stayed, they would all be dead. Better him than all of them, he figured bitterly.

Without even a second glance, Tyler and Matt zoomed off as fast as they could—Stefan could hear the sound of the wheels grazing the pavement.

Stefan whipped around, wrenching out of Elijah's strong grasp on his shirt. He punched him in the nose, hoping to deter him enough to be able to get away. But it didn't seem to do the man any harm—he didn't even flinch. His face felt cold to the touch, almost as if it was made of stone.

Elijah chuckled, as if Stefan's strength was laughable. Stefan reeled back in absolute terror, knowing he was a dead man. The next time he threw a punch, Elijah caught his fist in the palm of his hand, inches from his face. He bent it downwards with a sickening crack, and Stefan yelled out in pain.

"What are you?" Stefan cried.

Elijah's lips curled into a cruel smile. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough."

"I'm truly sorry for this," Elijah muttered after another second. He plunged a syringe into Stefan's neck, causing him to fall limp. With a quick look at his surroundings, he lugged him into his SUV and drove off.

...

Stefan woke up with a start and a gag over his mouth. Ropes had been expertly tied to his hand and feet. With a little squirming, he managed to get it off of his mouth and onto the floor.

He was in the back of some sort of large truck or car, with a chain-link panel keeping him from wrangling Elijah's neck.

"Did you have a nice nap, Salvatore?" asked a voice—a new voice.

Stefan looked around wildly, searching for the source, when he saw another man—one with boyish features. An amused smile presided on his face. He had unruly brown hair and a 5 o'clock shadow on his face. He was very unlike Elijah. _This must be Kol, _he thought. The third brother.

"Where are you taking me?" Stefan asked furiously, struggling in his bonds.

Kol's eyes narrowed in satisfaction. "Somewhere I think you'll like very much. Although, we will have to make a few stops first."

Elijah's voice drifted to the back of the car. "We're not supposed to make any 'stops', Kol."

Kol rolled his eyes and looked at Stefan, as if to say '_What's with this guy, right?_' and then turned to face his brother. "What Klaus doesn't know won't hurt him. Think of it as a detour. Or better, a road trip with the girls!"

Kol grinned, knowing that his brother couldn't resist his devilish charm.

After a moment, Elijah sighed deeply and gave in. "Where do we need to go, Kol? I'd rather not prolong this trip, if you don't mind."

"I want to stop by the beach house," he said quickly.

_Was he serious?_ Stefan asked, wanting to punch Kol right in his stubbly little face.

Elijah nearly stopped the car in the middle of the road. "No." When he saw the puppy-dog-look on Kol's face, he repeated himself, louder this time. "No, Kol! Out of the question."

Kol scoffed. "What? Too eager to get home to precious Caroline?"

It was as if the world had frozen and begun again in slow motion. Had he said... Caroline? That meant she was alive. Caroline was alive, Stefan thought, a relieved smile spreading on his face. Maybe this wasn't all for nothing. All the fear washed away from him at that moment. He knew she wasn't dead. He _knew_ it.

But what was that about her being precious? That didn't sound like the way someone would describe a hostage. More like... a friend. Even a girlfriend...

Stefan wanted to barf at the thought of Caroline being together with Elijah. None of this made any sense.

"Kol," Elijah growled, his voice no louder, but far more threatening than before.

"What?" Kol whispered sarcastically. "Was I not supposed to tell our guest about her?"

Through the holes in the chain-link panel, Stefan could see Elijah's eyes narrow into what were barely slits in the rearview mirror.

Kol suddenly fell silent.

After a moment's silence, whilst Stefan tried to process all of what had just happened, Elijah spoke again.

"We'll go to your beach house, but not for long. We need to get home. Give me directions. And Kol?" he added on, glancing at his younger brother, "If you try anything, I'll make sure Niklaus hears all about it once we're home. You won't have to answer to me _any _longer."

Kol said nothing and just glared out the window.

...

After nearly an hour of Kol shouting out directions to his brother, a few wrong turns, and one short-lived stop at Five Guys, (much to Elijah's dislike), the three reached Kol's beach house. It wasn't so much a house, but a mansion, but it seemed to fit Kol's 'big' personality.

It was a three story house, with a long wooden staircase leading up to a wraparound porch. Large, picture windows lining the front and sides of the house looked out onto crisp snow-white sand and crystal clear, turquoise ocean water. A similar deck to the porch branched out from what could be assumed to be a master bedroom, looking out to the west. A black SUV, almost the same as the one they were in at the moment, sat on the side in a dirt driveway.

Stefan felt the car come to a stop. Kol hopped out immediately, slamming the car door shut and inhaling the fresh, salty air. He sighed happily and announced, "I'm home."

Elijah stepped out as well, taking in his surroundings and leaning against the hood of the car, one foot crossed over the other.

Kol rushed into the house after unlocking the front door, disappearing inside.

As Stefan turned his attention back to the inside of his temporary prison, a break and slight bent in the one of the chain links caught his eyes. Quickly glancing back down to the bonds on his hands and feet, he smiled in triumph.

As fast as he could, Stefan put the ropes wrapped over his wrists over top of the sharp metal and moved his hands back and forth as fast as he could. It was wearing away at the ropes slowly but surely.

Stefan prayed that Kol would take all the time in the world to get whatever was _so _important to him—and sure enough, it worked.

Ten minutes later, Elijah was still standing outside, unaware of what was going on inside the SUV, Kol was still inside his massive beach property, and Stefan was finally free.

He let go of a breath he hadn't known he had been holding, tearing the ropes off of his feet in a frenzied panic.

Testing his luck, Stefan tried the back door to the car. Oddly enough, it was unlocked. _Guess they didn't expect me to break free, _Stefan thought smugly, a smirk appearing on his face.

As slowly and quietly as he possibly could, Stefan turned the handle of the back door and pushed it open, desperately hoping that it wouldn't make a creaking noise. Wincing and sucking in a breath, he pushed the door open. Sunlight flooded his senses, and the smell of fish and salt wafted into his nostrils.

Crawling out of the car, Stefan suddenly realized something. Sure, he could have run as fast as he could in the slim chance that he would find Tyler and the rest without being caught or alerting the Mikaelsons of the Wolves' hiding place, but he could also do something else.

He could stay put in that damn SUV, wait for Kol to be done, and let them lead him to what he had been after all along: Caroline and Bonnie.

As much as he wanted to run away and save himself, he knew he couldn't be selfish. Not for Caroline's sake. She was his best friend; his confidant; and he couldn't let her down now, not when she needed him the most—not after all the times she had picked him back up from his darkest moments.

He would stay.

It was a flawed plan, and not very well thought out, he admitted to himself, but it would have to do for now. Reluctantly, he crawled back into the back of the van, closing the door shut.

Just in time, too, because the split second after Stefan shut the backdoor, Kol came bursting out of the beach house, his hands in his pockets.

"Let's go!" Kol shouted to Elijah, who seemed to have lost himself in the smell of the sea.

Elijah hopped back into the driver's seat, while Kol comfortably placed himself in the backseat, a strange expression on his face. He looked... nostalgic... if that was possible for anyone—let alone a murderer.

The drive back to the Mikaelson house was deathly quiet. Stefan often expected Kol to make comments about Elijah's driving or... something. But he only looked down at his lap and wore a stony expression.

Stefan subtly peered over at what Kol was looking at so intensely.

Once he got a better look, he realized it was a picture—a small, delicate Polaroid.

It was a photograph of him and someone—Stefan couldn't see her face, only her chocolate brown hair cascading down her shoulder in soft waves.

Kol just sat there, staring at the picture, stroking it with his thumb gently.

"I wouldn't have pegged you for the caring type," Stefan said casually, wondering what he could do to get under Kol's skin.

Kol jumped at the sound of Stefan's voice, stuffing the picture into the pocket of his black pea coat.

"I'm not," he mumbled gruffly, directing his attention towards the window to his left.

Elijah glanced back at the two of them, confused at what they were talking about.

"Did I just drive an hour so you could grab whatever was left of that girl?" he suddenly blurted out, flashing an accusing look in his brother's direction.

Kol tensed up, shooting Elijah an annoyed look.

"She wasn't just some girl," he muttered brusquely.

This whole ordeal was strange, Stefan thought to himself. The whole time he had thought they just went out and murdered people for fun like a pair of crazed psychopaths, but... it wasn't much like that at all. Sure, they had taken Caroline, Bonnie, Hayley, and himself, but it wasn't as if they had knocked him on the ground and cracked his head open.

They hadn't harmed him in any way, except for the wrist thing.

Stefan looked at his wrist and wiggled it. No pain whatsoever. How strange.

They had just driven an hour to pick up a picture of a girl Kol loved. And he had said something about _precious _Caroline? Could it be possible that they weren't as bad as they seemed?

"What did you mean when you said 'precious Caroline'?" Stefan blurted out, earning two looks that told him to 'shut the hell up'.

Kol chuckled dryly after a moment. "Do you want to explain it to him, brother, or should I?"

Elijah said nothing, and seemed determined to keep his eyes on the road.

As if Elijah couldn't hear them, Kol began to whisper to Stefan, as if he was a twelve year old girl telling her best friend who her crush-of-the-week was.

"You see, my brother here has taken a liking to our little captive. Is it mutual? That's the question. Stay tuned until next week, Stefan."

Kol grinned as his own clever joke. _In a way, our life is like a teen drama_, he thought amusedly.

Stefan's eyes widened in surprise. _What the hell was going on? _

"Either you keep quiet or I rip your throat out before Niklaus does," Elijah warned.

...

"How would you like to join me in enjoying a welcome back feast for my brothers?"

Klaus had just peeked his head through Caroline's door and into her room, where she was currently reading an old book on her bed.

After a moment's thought, she agreed. She replied with a curt 'yes'.

After training with him the day before, she didn't know how to act around him. He seemed angry with her—and after the way he reacted to her and Tyler's 'situation', she was honestly angry with him. She supposed this dinner would be a peacemaker, but she didn't exactly want to spend an uncomfortable few hours with him _or _his brothers. After all, the only reason they would return would be if their 'deed' were done. Which meant her friends were dead.

As her throat clamped shut and her chest started to tighten, she began trying to think of other things. Anything else.

She would take a walk.

Putting a hand to her chest, feeling around for her necklace, Caroline stepped outside her room and wandered into the hallway, only to find something hanging from the banister.

It was a long, golden dress; one with sequins on the torso and a flowing, glowing bottom that would trail behind you on the floor. It was strapless, with a sweetheart neckline. Tiny specks of what looked like gold rested on the skirt. Caroline fell in love with it almost instantaneously.

"Wow," came a breathless voice from behind her.

Caroline jumped with a start and whipped around to see that it was only Bonnie. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she wore a lavender-colored shrug that really brought out her olive eyes.

"Did Klaus buy that for you?"

Caroline nodded; suddenly embarrassed by the unexpected gifts he was always giving her. She subconsciously began to fiddle with her daylight necklace—yet another gift from Klaus. Bonnie's eyes flickered down to her hand, but she didn't say anything about it.

"Are you coming to the banquet?" Caroline asked Bonnie, suddenly feeling awkward and like she was about to puke.

"I wasn't invited," Bonnie replied curtly.

"Well, now you are!" Caroline said in a cheerful tone, smiling widely, hoping to ease the tension in the air. It seemed as though Bonnie didn't approve of her and Klaus' friendship.

Bonnie pursed her lips and shook her head. "Nah, I'd rather stay in tonight and get some rest. I've been practicing a lot and it sort of drains me."

A strange look crossed over her face, but Caroline ignored it.

Caroline almost asked what she was practicing before she realized that she was talking about magic. It was easy to forget that Bonnie was a witch—she was so normal.

Caroline flashed Bonnie a small smile and turned to leave, but Bonnie stopped her. "Hey, Caroline?"

Caroline turned around to face her and nodded, urging her to continue.

"Do you think I could talk to you about something?"

Caroline nodded once more and said, "Yeah, sure. Anything."

Caroline hung the dress back up onto the banister.

A little bit of hope lit up onto Bonnie's face, grateful that someone was willing to listen. She led Caroline down the hallway and into her room. It was small with a tiny white bed in the center, a painting of a beautiful sunset on the east side; the walls were painted soft honeydew green. It was the sort of green that made you want to melt away into the summer nights.

Bonnie placed herself on her mattress, inviting Caroline to sit with her.

A bubbly joy welled up inside of Caroline; this whole scene reminded her of slumber parties she used to have with Elena... before Elena started to hate her guts.

"If I ever get out of here—"

"You will," Caroline interrupted, flashing her a look of pity. The poor girl thought she was going to die alone at the hand of a Mikaelson.

"If I ever get out of here," she continued, "I mean—being here, it's made me realize that I can't let life slip me by. It's so fragile and can be taken away any minute."

A few tears welled in her ears as she thought about Emily and how Klaus had killed her in cold blood right in front of her.

"I met this guy last summer—Kyle—wet met at the beach," she told Caroline wistfully. Her eyes were full to the brim with memories long gone.

"I honestly think I fell in love with him—I mean, it sure felt like love. I'd never been in love before, so I don't think I knew. But I realize that now."

Caroline stared at the witch in awe, moved by this story already. It wasn't the story itself, but rather, how Bonnie told it. The way the words slipped off of her tongue and the look in her eyes made Caroline want to run away and fall in love with the next stranger she met.

"And the thing was, I never told him how I felt. To him, I was just the girl visiting for the summer. Honestly, he probably doesn't even remember me."

Storm clouds gathered in her eyes.

"And then one day, I went to his house, just to drop off his latte and M&M cookie and have breakfast with him like I did every morning, but he was gone. Not just him, but all of his stuff. I haven't seen him since."

Caroline leaned forward attentively, already mesmerized and captivated by Bonnie's story.

"My question is," Bonnie finished tentatively, "If I ever get out of here, should I go find him?" She stopped and giggled to herself. "I mean, I know it's stupid, but I can't stop thinking about Kyle and what might have happened."

She finally looked up at Caroline with hopeful eyes.

"I..." Caroline stammered. "Wow. You definitely should, Bon. I mean, wow... talk about my dream come true."

When Bonnie gave her a confused look, Caroline quickly explained in a mess of words.

"Not the getting locked up with vampires part—"

Bonnie laughed and put a hand over her mouth.

"But the whole cute little friendship you guys had going on. You should definitely go for it."

Bonnie sighed, relieved at her friend's answer.

"You need to go get ready!" Bonnie exclaimed, looking at the clock on the wall. As Caroline walked out the door, she shouted, "Klaus waits for no man!"

Caroline couldn't help but laugh. And damn, did it feel good to laugh again. With all this being a new vampire stuff, and Rebekah drama—oh, and the person out to get her! Can't forget good old Katherine—she had forgotten how to laugh and have fun. It was nice.

She grabbed the dress off of the railing and dashed in her room.

...

A little more than half an hour later, Caroline was dressed and downstairs, walking around, trying to find Klaus, when she saw a tiny handwritten note on the kitchen counter.

It read:

_The ballroom. _

_7:00. _

_Hopefully you'll be wearing the dress I bought for you._

_-Klaus_

Caroline glanced over at the clock just above the kitchen sink. 6:55. _I better hurry, _she thought to herself. _Klaus waits for no man, _she thought with a chuckle.

As she walked over to the ballroom, the fast-approaching darkness shrouding the remaining sunlight, she thought about the original quote.

'Time and tide wait for no man'.

_The man who wrote that never met vampires_, Caroline thought.

She had reached the entrance to the ballroom. So many bad things had happened there. Rebekah had attacked her in her room. She had drowned in the waters waiting just outside. She had been tortured mercilessly just below. The thought of that day gave Caroline shivers. All she wanted to put it out of her mind, she couldn't. Not yet.

She walked in to find a long dining table covered in white cloth at one end, the lights low and candles lit throughout the room. She looked up in wonder to see the chandelier sparkling and casting prisms under the moonlight.

Getting the strange feeling that someone was watching her, Caroline turned around—to see that she was right. Klaus stood in front of her, wearing a classy suit.

He swept his eyes over her in admiration.

"Should we wait until they're back?" Caroline asked suddenly, wanting him to stop looking at her the way he did. It wasn't right.

"Of course," Klaus managed to get out, still shocked by how beautiful she looked in that dress.

They both sat down across from each other, while soft piano music played and Klaus took small sips from his champagne glass.

Almost an hour had gone by and there was still no sign of Elijah or Kol.

Finally, Klaus leapt out of his seat, dying of boredom and disliking the silence that had settled between them. Strutting over to Caroline, he took her hand and whisked her onto the dance floor.

"They obviously won't be coming home any time soon, so let's have a little fun," Klaus said, flashing her a smile.

Caroline allowed herself to have a little fun. She swayed back and forth with Klaus, eventually resting her cheek on his chest. His left hand clutched hers tightly, while the other cupped her waist.

"You look beautiful," he told her softly. In response, she blushed furiously and refused to meet his eyes.

Klaus moved a hand towards her face, gently brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Caroline looked up at him in wonder, wondering why his hand was lingering.

She didn't break her gaze, and neither did he.

It was like he was studying her face, trying to memorize how she looked; inhaling her like the smoke from a cigarette. _Everything about her is addictive, _he thought.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. His eyes flickered to her lips, and hers drifted to his.

They were less than an inch apart—so close that Caroline could feel his breath on her face—when the warning bells went off. Every bone in her body was telling her to kiss him. But her mind was screaming 'no!'.

"I can't," she managed to mutter before tearing herself out of his arms.

Klaus stood there, somewhat dumbfounded, He had told himself to stay away from her. It was his fault. What had he been thinking—inviting her to a romantic dinner alone in a dress that made her look more beautiful than she already was?

"Caroline, wait—"

But she was already walking out the door, heading back to her room, trying to collect her thoughts. She burst into the mudroom, planning to run up to her room and bang her head against the wall, wondering what she had gotten herself into. Repeatedly. A small clicking sound stopped her and she froze, staring at the front door. Someone was trying to get in. After what had just happened, she had completely forgotten who was coming home.

"Elijah," she muttered breathlessly, hoping that he wouldn't see the distressed tears welling in her eyes.

The door opened.

"Caroline?"

But it wasn't Elijah's smooth as velvet voice she was hearing. It was someone all too familiar.

"No..." her voice came out as a strangled scream before she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around the newcomer.

* * *

**THOUGHTS**

**COMMENTS**

**SUGGESTIONS**

**ANYTHING! :)**

**Who's the girl in Kol's picture?**

**Who's baaaaack?**

**Did the almost-kiss surprise you? I spent about an hour thinking of ways to improve it so hopefullly it's good!**

**love you guys and if you'd do me a favor and just comment if you're reading this; it's always nice to know there's more than 5 people reading my story (: thanks!**


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